What is "Low-VOC" or "No-VOC" Paint?

Happy Weekend!

We are back with another guest post~ YAY!

Please welcome Alison. :)

Hi! I'm Alison from Making a McHome and I am so excited to be here today! Isn't Bonnie awesome!? Not only is she hosting me on her blog today, but she is literally hosting my husband and I in her own home this weekend- talk about generosity! 

Okay, so on to today's post... My husband and I bought our very first home a few weeks ago and we have been very blessed to have the extra time to paint- because it was a total MAN CAVE before! The guys actually painted ALL of the trim black and all of the walls dark dark colors. It looked really cool with their stuff, but that wasn't going to fly with us. Have you ever seen the Good Luck Charlie house? Yeah, I try my hardest to convince my husband into as much of that style as possible! (See our awesome chalkboard wall here.) :)

(You can follow our new home adventures on Facebook!)

So we are completely up to our elbows in paint and the green-momma side of me has been busy doing tons of research on paint. Have you ever heard of "Low-VOC" or "No-VOC" paint? If you don't know about them, listen up! This is very important information that affects the air you breath, your family's health, and our earth's ozone. AND I'm going to offer you a solution- my solution- at the end, so no worrying about it! Just take action. :) Sources: How Stuff Works and EPA

Eek! Do I have your attention? haha This is serious stuff! Half of these chemicals are released while you are painting (note: that bad paint odor-toxins you are breathing!) and the other half spend the next 6 years seeping into the air you breath! Yikes!

Ready to breath easy?

When we first bought our home I told Kent that I absolutely would not be painting unless it was low or no VOC paint- saving the money to afford them is worth it! Thankfully, stores have caught on to this want of consumers and you can buy the paint at Lowe's, Home Depot, etc... We bought from Sherwin Williams. I downloaded their SW Color-Snap app on my BlackBerry and fell in love!

If you sign up as a preferred customer, you receive coupons in the mail, discounts in store from the awesome sales people, and notifications about big sale weekends making it very affordable. Weare totally inviting our favorite consultant, Laura, to our Housewarming Party when we finally get moved in. They are so nice and helpful!

I am not being paid by SW at all. I promise. I haven't been able to convince them to pay me to take their paint yet, but I'm working on it! :)

To learn more about Sherwin Williams' green initiatives go here. I am truly impressed by them.

Everyone likes before and afters, right? (Coat of primer and Coat of paint, trim is only prime and keep in mind that furniture makes the room look bigger in the before.)

Well, we're more in the middle so take a look and don't forget to follow our McHome on Facebook and Blogger so you can get more helpful, green tips and see how it all turns out!

Thanks so much Alison! :)

By the way, do you LOVE her new house??  I do!

You can follow her and her new house here.

Have an awesome weekend!

Bonnie :)

Quick and Easy Chicken Parmesan

Hello! :)  How are you all doing today?  Doing anything fun, I hope?

I showed you how I cook here but since being pregnant and being ultra busy lately, I have been going with some quick and easy meals to help with prep and clean up time.

Here is one of our favorites!  I like it and the kids beg for more...

Chicken Parmesan

(Although there is really no parmesan in the recipe, ha!)

You will need:

 TJ's Breaded Chicken Tenders

TJ's Roasted Garlic Marinara

TJ's Shredded Mozzarella

This is an extremely easy meal under 30 minutes!!

Just bake the chicken for a little bit and then take it out.

Add the sauce!

Add the cheese and let it melt!

Grab your favorite dinner drink!

Add a salad!

That's it!!!

My kids ate this so fast and loved it!  I really enjoyed the break from homemade cooking!

What about you?  Do you have any easy go-to meals?

What is your family's favorite?

Have a great day! 

Bonnie :)

Welcome May!

The wind is tossing the lilacs

This is May... this is the month of enchantment

...and thus, from my gardens, come my stories... come the color bursts of tiny stars-like flowers; the exotic and strange fragrances wafting in the early morning air. It come, too, the hypnotic effect of arching stems swaying in the wind; the mysterious singing of the trees as gentle breezes rattle their leaves; and too, the intriguing housing complexes, underground roads and passages of all the species of miniature creatures who dwell in it...

.... and there's God in the midst of it all, and not so the apple tree as it is the flowering pear tree, and soft pink petals of the Cherry blossom trees. And there are also the themes, the symbols and archetypes; stories of magical beings and past lives, and childhood remembrances too. There's even an owl and a serpent like the embodiment of wisdom of that long forgotten Eden... although, of course, they're not real... Thankfully, no real serpent has yet been found here, and I'm hoping it never will... but thunder is still the voice of an angry god, and rain are his tears. And sometimes I am the Alice of Wonderland lost in the Neverland of Peterpan. Because, that's just how it is here in my gardens....

Sunshine, shade, fruits, flowers, leaves; myriads of petals, feathers, birds and buttercups… oh, and can I forget migration, courtship, nest building and egg laying? What a lovely surprise the Robins bestowed this week... a nest, amidst the branches of the Sally Holmes rose bush..

Spring... all of my senses are aroused. I love the feel in the air, the syrupy smell around the honeysuckle vine, the colors to behold and the sounds of the winds that from time to time come by just to remind me that this is where my heart lives...

Welcome, May!