Although these women say they’re far from100 percent organic, they’ve found ways to integrate healthier choices, and, best of all, they are willing to share their tips.

Shenequa Aranda
Mother of a busy toddler and owner of a maternity concierge company called Premier Baby Planning, Shenequa Aranda attributes her awareness about her carbon footprint to living in London and Singapore before moving back to Houston.

Shenequa Aranda is teaching son Preston, age 2, about caring for the environment. (Photo: www.hartphoto.com)

“Having a healthy home has been a gradual process for me. I noticed in Europe and Asia people are less wasteful. In London, they stopped providing free plastic bags at stores. In Singapore, housing is smaller, and you can’t buy a lot as there is nowhere to store it,” she says.

When son Preston, now 2½, developed asthma, Shenequa took her ideas of healthy living to a new level. She uses vinegar and biodegradable soaps to clean. The baby’s diapers, made by Earth’s Best, have no chlorine and are made from renewable resources.

To reduce exposure to chemical toxins in plastic, Preston’s crib is solid wood, as are almost all his toys. “One of the things I try to do is buy things that last, such as better quality clothing, so I am not constantly trying to replace things,” she says.

Mary Kay Hunt
Between helping friends with interior-design projects, shuttling a 13- and 9-year-old to school and activities, and constantly researching on how to have a healthier lifestyle, Mary Kay Hunt is hoping to find time to complete a certification as an environmental consultant and green-home designer.

Because her son suffers from allergies and she had some health issues of her own after the birth of her second child, Mary Kay says the more she researched the more she realized she had the power to make changes.

“The biggest difference is that we installed an IQ Air Filtration System throughout the whole house,” she shares, adding that the filter system was costly but worth it.

For cleaning the home, Mary Kay says there are affordable products at many regular grocery stores, such as Seventh Generation for dishwashing and detergent. She’s never used insecticide to keep bugs out of the house but instead relies on non-chemical solutions such as sealing holes in the baseboards with caulking.

“It’s so much about education,” she says. She recommends two resources: the website Healthy Child, Healthy World at healthychild.org and Paula Baker-Laporte’s book, Prescriptions for a Healthy House.

Kimberly Atlas Harrington
“I’ve always been interested in healthy things,” says Kimberly Atlas Harrington. “I remember when it wasn’t as trendy to shop healthy as it is today, my mom would shop at a health-food store, Ye Seekers. After my grandfather was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1982 and told he had less than a year to live, my grandparents totally changed their lifestyle, growing their own wheat grass. My grandfather lived another seven years. That had a huge influence on me,” she says.

Even though Kimberly Atlas Harrington has been interested in green choices for many years, she is more so since the birth of daughters Faye, age 4, and Hazel, 9 months. (Photo: www.hartphoto.com)

As a photographer, Kimberly knows she can’t take back the years of exposure to chemicals in the dark room, but she does her best to keep a healthy environment today. After her first daughter, Faye, now 4½, was born, Kimberly invested in BPA-free bottles. Bisphenol A (BPA) has been linked in lab tests to cancer and other health problems. By the time her second daughter, Hazel, now 9 months, was born, Kimberly wanted to further reduce her family’s exposure to plastic and purchased only glass bottles.

“If you think of all the plastics we are exposed to, imagine a new baby who has a vulnerable immune system. If she is sleeping in a crib that emits chemical fumes, drinking from a bottle that is made of plastic, sleeping on a mattress coated with chemicals, her toys are plastic,” says Kimberly, “no wonder there are such high incidences of childhood cancer and health-related issues.”

After reading studies showing that babies who sleep on mattresses made from wool and natural products have a lower incident of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), she purchased all new mattresses, pillows and bedding.

“The mattresses most people and children sleep on have PVC (polyvinyl choride) as well as arsenic,” says Kimberly, who also cautions fellow parents about products with fragrance. “That … cream we all associate a baby smell with? It is the worst product to put on your baby’s skin.”

Kimberly recommends ewg.org, a website dedicated to testing and rating products for health quality.

Ashley Verhagen
In the midst of building a new house, Ashley Verhagen has tried to ensure that most materials, such as all paint and floor surfaces, are toxin-free. A stay-at-home mother of two children under the age of 5, Ashley consults a healthy-living website, mercola.com for information on products.

“After reading information there, I switched … to Verizon as I read that their signal for WiFi and cell phone use was safer,” she says.

While living in the United Kingdom, she got used to fresh produce delivered in a box to her door – “so fresh it still had the dirt on it,” she says. She makes her own baby food and often mixes up green spinach, seaweed and kale in her blender as power food and as a way to ensure calcium stays in her family’s diet as they cut down on dairy products.

Lauren Brackman Berger
A stay-home mom of 2-year-old son Ryan and newborn daughter Sarah, Lauren Brackman Berger chuckles when describing her steps to making their lifestyle healthier. Her brother, Adam Brackman, is one of the owners of New Living and The Green Painter, green building and home stores.

“So of course I am so much more aware the dangers products include now. But at our house we do what we can – we are not a totally green household. For everyday cleaning, we use non-toxic solutions, but when the dog messes, we use the tough stuff, even though it has toxins.”

While pregnant, Lauren painted Sarah’s nursery with toxin-free paint, and there was no odor or fumes to worry about. She suggests a simple way to reduce exposure to unhealthy substances in the home is to take off shoes in the house. “This way you don’t bring chemical residue from sidewalks and grass inside.”

Lauren steams vegetables and purees them for baby food. Her guideline for buying organic versus non-organic comes from Healthy Child, Healthy World. “What we call ‘the dirty dozen’ and the items that I always buy the organic version are apples, peaches, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, cherries, lettuce, imported grapes, pears, spinach, lettuce and potatoes.”

Organic foods are often pricier than others, so she may buy non-organic onions, avocadoes, sweet corn, pineapples, mangoes, frozen sweet peas, asparagus, kiwis, bananas, cabbage, broccoli and eggplant. Compared to “the dirty dozen,” these choices generally are considered less pesticide-ridden.

Karol Barnhart and Kelly Garwood
Like mother, like daughter. Karol Barnhart says she’s been on a quest for better health for about six years. “Once you get on that path, you can’t stop,” she says. Karol’s grown daughter, Kelly Garwood, recently moved back in with her folks while she and husband Will remodeled their home. As both Karol and Kelly are each going through a renovation project (Karol and husband Paul are remodeling Paul’s childhood home), they’ve fastidiously picked only natural materials, such as organic floor stain and pure wool carpeting.

Not long before, when Karol and Paul installed new carpeting in their current home, they noticed they felt ill, nauseated and had red eyes. “We had it all ripped out,” says Karol, who also now tries to keep the doors and windows open as much as possible.

Kelly, expecting a baby girl in August, ensured every item in the nursery is non-toxic, down to the natural crib mattress. “We’ve seen such an increase in cancer and other illnesses that it makes sense to me all the new chemicals that are being dumped into our environment are a contributor,” says Kelly, who served as assistant curator of Latin American art at the Museum of Fine Arts until recently.

Like her mom, Kelly keeps hardly any pantry foods. “We go to the local farmers’ markets and stock up each week,” she says, adding that even her folks’ dogs, black Lab Molly and Katie, a miniature dachshund, are fed only a natural diet.

Says Kelly, “I’m not a super paranoid freak, but if I have a choice to use a cleaner, more healthy alternative, I plan to do so.”

In Houston we have a well-regarded medical facility to care for wounded heroes, at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, which most of us call “The VA.”

Dr. Sally Ann Holmes provides care for injured veterans.

Among the doctors here is Dr. Sally Ann Holmes, 48. In the medical world, some consider her a hero as well – both for her success in rehabilitating patients with spinal-cord injuries and for her personal example of living successfully with a physical disability.

Dr. Holmes has used a wheelchair since she was a teen due to a muscular disorder called central core myopathy, a rare genetic disorder similar to muscular dystrophy but not as life threatening.

Routine physical tasks aren’t routine for her, and she drives a specially equipped van that fits her motorized wheelchair. Yet she has chosen a demanding physical life as a physician.

As a young doctor, she says, she was drawn to working with veterans because she found they didn’t tend to focus on her disability. She says she has developed a sixth sense, or intuition, in working with patients because of her personal experiences on the receiving end of medicine.

“Veterans were so accepting,” she says. “I’ve been a patient myself. I listen to the patient. I am able to go beyond the strictly clinical and see the bigger picture. No one can completely understand.”

Among her current patients are young soldiers injured in explosions and vehicle accidents, as well as older veterans with maladies.

Dr. Holmes began at the VA in 1994 after a Baylor residency in rehabilitative medicine and primary care. She went to work at their spinal cord therapy unit and in 2001 was promoted to the executive in charge of the spinal cord unit, overseeing care for all patients.

Born in Memphis, Holmes said she was a “floppy baby,” and her parents knew immediately something was wrong. Many years of care and testing followed until she was given a diagnosis. As she grew, though, she never felt discouraged by her disability, she says, because her parents always encouraged her independence. She even learned to drive a specially equipped van at age 16.

She says she never thought she could not be whatever she wanted to be, and she participated in sports and had an active social life despite hospitalizations, treatment and medical challenges through her childhood as the muscular disease progressed. She found inspiration in the doctors treating her and thought about starting her own career in medicine.

When Holmes was accepted into medical school at the University of Tennessee in 1986, there was no such thing as “accommodations” because it was before the Americans with Disabilities Act mandated them.

She used her ingenuity in accommodating her needs on clinical rotations. For example, in surgery, she used a chair with wheels that sat high to the ground so she could reach the operating table. Like other residents, she survived 20-hour work days. As these long days from surgery began to take a physical toll on her, she was able to design a special rotation for the next stage of her education at the Memphis VA hospital.

Originally she planned to specialize in psychiatry, but during her rotations, she discovered she was happier in the physical care of patients.

Once she decided on a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation, she made the move to Houston in 1991 to attend Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. Holmes says she loves her transplanted hometown. Her brother and mother now live here, and together they are all Texans season-ticket holders. She married Glenn Burdeaux, a mechanical engineer, in 2010, and they love going to Astros games.

In November, on Veterans Day, Holmes received the Operation American Heroes Foundation Founder’s Award for her dedication to caring for veterans. The national foundation provides grants and funding to organizations that assist with veteran care.

John Carloss, chairman and founder of that organization, is a Vietnam veteran. He is effusive in his praise for Dr. Holmes.

“It is so unbelievable how she has dedicated her life to her work with veterans, especially given her own difficult physical situation,” John said. “I find her an enormous inspiration.”

Super Souper Bowl haul

Art fest pre-party
At Gallery M2, supporters and volunteers, including (from left) Jane and Steve Malashock and Karen Dressel, celebrated the upcoming Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park. About 100 guests nibbled on gourmet sliders of pulled pork, chicken and fried-green tomatoes, beef nachos and flavored popcorn. To commemorate its 41st anniversary, the festival presented the Memorial Park Conservancy with a $5,000 donation to plant 41 bald cypress trees. (Photo: Ben DeSoto)

Showing their artistic side
During a one night-only exhibit and auction, more than 200 attendees, including Erik and Maite Xydis (pictured), took in the colorful photos captured by Faith in Practice supporters and displayed in the Wade Wilson Art Gallery. The exhibit featured the work of Dr. Fernando Stein, Jerry Herring, Joan Bueling Herring, Victoria Hass and Jarred King and transported guests to the streets of Guatemala during Easter celebrations. It raised more than $16,000 to benefit poor and ill Guatemalans.

Challenging baseball conventions
On a sunny spring day, 140 special-needs children and their middle- and high-school “buddies” pitched in for Challenger Baseball’s opening day. Thanks to volunteers, the mentally and physically challenged children in Challenger baseball experience the emotional development and fun of participating in a sport, with every player getting a chance to bat, run the bases, score and catch a baseball every inning. A game lasts two innings. Pictured, Challenger Angel Brennan Emeka receives high fives from (from left) Austin Hahn, Bryce Pedersen, Kevin McEnery and Brent Diaz of Strake Jesuit.

Wranglers beat ’em again
The Houston Wranglers are champions again. The 10U Elite team won the Nations Baseball, 10U Elite, Fielder’s Choice Classic in Katy with clutch hitting, solid fielding and spectacular pitching. Pictured (from left) are the victors: (back row) coach Tim McKone, coach Philip Bryant and manager James Sheffield; (middle row) Ethan Samuels, Fred Wilhelm, Ryan Moore, Tom Vincent, Grant McWilliams, Caleb Sheffield, Adam Farris and head coach Rocky Flores; and (front row) Nathan Bryant, Benjamin Hananel, Corbin Kinder and Willie McKone.

Under the boardwalk
More than 500 Houstonians, including Susie and Iggy Distefano (pictured), shot hoops with former NBA players and enjoyed tarot-card readings, treats and dancing at Memorial Hermann’s Under the Boardwalk gala benefiting Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital. Dr. Kelli and Martin Fein, Melissa Edwards, and Rachel and Tom Regan chaired, with Nik and the Nice Guys providing entertainment. Supporters Philamena and Arthur Baird, Leslie Alexander and the Dr. Marnie Rose Foundation were honored. Others under the boardwalk included Kay, Fred and Jay Zeidman, Betty and Jesse Tutor, Cathy and Jesse Marion, Donna and Tony Vallone, Elizabeth and Alan Stein, Susan Vick, Amy and John Cone, Anat Kaufman, Beth Bryant, Christine Falgout, Casey and Will Hedges, Elizabeth and Alexander Dwyer and sisters Sarah and Saba Jawda.

Hear, hear
More than 500 supporters, including Dorothy and Mickey Ables (pictured), raised $414,000 to help children with hearing loss at the Center for Hearing and Speech’s annual dinner, The Legacy of Leadership: Honoring 65 Years of Service. Guests were wowed by tales of determination and adversity from Center clients and alumni. Among those commemorating 6½ decades of service were emcee Tom Koch of KTRK Ch. 13, Carol and Randy Limbacher, Leslie and Randy Newcomer, and Jennifer and Wil VanLoh. (Photo: Houston Event Photography)

Betting on our youth
Underwriting chairs Mary and John Eads and Denise and David Baggett helped raise a record-setting $1 million for The Covenant House Texas with the organization’s Casino Royale: Betting on Our Youth gala. Aimee and Wynne Snoots were honored with the 2012 Spirit Award, and the 730-plus supporters, including Bill and Beatty Watts (pictured), filled the Hilton Americas ballroom to celebrate the Covenant House kids, play casino games and bid in auctions. Covenant House Texas serves homeless and at-risk youth under 21. (Photo: David Shutts Photography)

Gifts of imperfect parenting
At The Children’s Museum of Houston’s Parents and Families Luncheon, which raised more than $111,000 for the museum’s early childhood and parenting programs, Brené Brown, a University of Houston professor, lectured about the gifts of imperfect parenting. Gina Gaston, KTRK Ch. 13 anchor and mother of triplets, served as mistress of ceremonies. Also in the crowd were Nicci White Greeley, Brown, Daisy Sloan White and Jacqui White Arribas (pictured, from left) and Tracy Pesikoff, Katie Forney, Karen Pulaski, Claire Jackson, Caroline Peters, Tiffany Mays, Elizabeth Bell, Gabriela Gerhart, Suzette Caldwell and Kati Trawick. (Photo: Michelle Watson)

Charging to a championship
Defending champs Pin Oak Middle School Chargers swept both pool games the first day of the Houston Christian Mustang Classic softball tournament, then lost the first game Saturday morning to St. Francis. Because it was double elimination, the girls couldn’t afford another slip. After four more wins, they beat St. Francis 6-1 to again claim the championship. Pictured (from left) are(back row) principal Susan Monaghan, Leah Starkweather, Meg Ashman, Alexis Aboulafia, Claire Vessels, Allison Stafford, Cameron Lavergne, Paige Crocker, Claire Stringfellow, Arianna Via, Courtney Dart and coach Eric Meyer; (front row) Kate Salsky, Isabella Zepeda, Charlotte Spector, Haleigh Davis and Lily Sizemore.

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Veteran motorcyclist Moyer, 76, had already logged more than 100,000 miles on two wheels – a 9,000-mile solo journey from Houston to Nova Scotia was perhaps the most epic. More recently, he and his wife Virginia made their way to Big Bend National Park on a Goldwing for a round trip of 1,900 miles.

Years ago he used to ride through the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas when he lived in Georgia and his mother lived in Kansas. Last year he got a hankering to return to his old riding grounds and invited Monday along.

John Monday breaks in his Honda Silverwing in the Ozark Mountains of Western Arkansas in October 2011.

For Monday, 60, a retired logistics manager and former Bellaire City Councilman, it was his first long-distance motorbike trip.

“It was a little scary, particularly blind hairpin turns where you can’t see what’s around the bend, and you’ve got the sun in your eyes – it increases your heart rate, let’s put it that way.”

Moyer rode his 650cc Suzuki Burgman all the way; they found a 600cc Honda Silverwing for John, which he trailered up to Longview, Texas, and they rode together from there.

Moyer mapped a route through the twisting Ozark byways that included the Pig Trail Scenic Byway, the Arkansas Grand Canyon and the Talimena Scenic Byway, the highest point between the Appalachians and the Rockies.

Their first surprise came when they arrived in Mena, Ark.

“I thought, ‘This will be a piece of cake; we’ll just get a room when we get there,’” said Moyer. They stopped at the biggest and best hotel in town. The sign said, “No Vacancy.”

“Surely you’re kidding,” he said at the front desk. “There are no cars in the lot.”

But it was time for the Christian Motorcyclists Association’s annual meeting, and nearly every room in town had been booked.

They were lucky to find a place in the Limetree Inn. Then they discovered a second surprise.

“We’d been riding all day and were pretty tuckered out, and we said let’s stop and get us a drink,” Moyer recalled.

No such luck; Mena was in a dry county.

Phillip Moyer, left, and John Monday enjoyed a layover at the Arkansas House in Jasper, Ark., where they enjoyed buffalo and elk steaks during their recent road trip through Arkansas.

Their third surprise was the weather. It was late October, so they bundled up like the Michelin man – but even wearing every stitch of clothing they had, they weren’t ready for the cold blast.

The next morning they hightailed it along 179 miles of scenic back roads north to Eureka Springs.

AR 23 was a cyclists’ dream, filled with corkscrew turns, roller coaster-like hills and sweeping views of the brilliantly hued forests beyond.  The breathtaking physicality, the danger and the need to be fully engaged constantly left Monday feeling exhausted – but he wouldn’t have traded it. “It was really beautiful to experience Arkansas on a motorcycle,” he said. “It wouldn’t be nearly as beautiful, nearly as enjoyable as in a car.”

The lively and colorful resort town of Eureka Springs became their road-trip base for two days – first they went to a spring-fed fish hatchery at Roaring River State Park, across the line in Missouri. Monday had heard of the splendid trout fishing in the Ozarks and had strapped on his fly-fishing rod.

“I had a hard time getting John out of there,” Moyer chuckled. “He wanted to go to fishing in the fish hatchery.” Sadly, by the time they found a place where Monday could fish, he was too cold – “it had lost its appeal,” Moyer said.

The next day they headed to Jasper, Ark., a quaint town along the Buffalo National Scenic River, and stopped at the War Eagle Grist Mill along the way – a Civil War historic site with a still-operating stream-powered mill.

The high point of their trip back home was riding over the Talimena Scenic Byway from Queen Wilhelmina State Park in Arkansas to Talimena State Park in Oklahoma.

All too soon they were back in Houston, tallying the bill – a total of $500 each for the entire trip – and plotting their next trip: Tennessee’s Tail of the Dragon, with 318 curves in 11 miles

Arkansas scooter adventure, day by day

On Oct. 17, 2011 – a crisp autumn day in Houston, and even more so in Arkansas – veteran motorcyclist Phil Moyer and his friend John Monday launched an epic six-day journey through Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Moyer, an immaculate record-keeper, shares his trip log for those who might want to plan a similar adventure – or just enjoy an armchair version.

But first, check out their adventures in this video.

The video was shot and produced by John, with some help from a collaborator he found online. The pass on the double yellow line was done by a rider who contributed moving video on YouTube and John “borrowed” a short bit of his video showing the motion in corners and hills.

Editor’s note: Phil wanted to emphasize that the pair never drives while drinking, and advises strongly against it.

Trip Highlights by Day (Monday, Oct. 17 through Saturday, Oct. 22)

Day 1, Monday, Oct. 17

Bellaire US 59 to Longview US 259 to US 67 to TX 8 north becomes AR 41 to de Queen US 71 to Mena, Ark.

Departed Bellaire ~6:30 a.m; Arrived Mena, Ark., ~4:30 p.m.

We loaded the Honda Silverwing onto the trailer, and John drove to Longview while Phil rode his Burgman.  The weather was a bit cool but not cold; it was also foggy and as I rode I got wet from the fog and heavy water content of the early morning.  The fog lifted after about Livingston (90 minutes), and all was well. We stopped in Lufkin for fuel and a rest. We learned that we took the long way to Longview and we should have taken the highway US 259 at the split in Nacogdoches. We met the other lawyers of the firm and had lunch with Brandt. We unloaded John’s rented Silverwing and left the van and trailer for Brandt’s boss to take to his ranch until we returned. John secured a good rental from the owner of Apollo Scooters on Richmond. He also secured insurance for the period of our trip. John now had a chance to ride this scooter for the first time without all the traffic of inner Houston.  The trip north of Longview was on fine surface on US 259 up to Omaha, Tex., where we stopped for an ice cream then took US 67 to TX 8.  This part of the trip was advised by a person as the quickest, safest and shortest route toward Mena, Ark. We turned north on TX 8 and avoided Texarkana congestion and quickly found ourselves in Arkansas as the highway changed from TX 8 to AR 41 and then it became US 71 the rest of the way to Mena, Ark.

The highlight of the day was seeing Brandt and his office and the quality roads for the entire day. US 71 was a fine road and became scenic as we got further north.  Along the way we began to see more cyclists proceeding north, and this traffic got thicker as we approached Mena. We discovered that we had picked our dates without knowledge of the annual gathering of the Christian Motorcyclists Association. There were hundreds of bikers in Mena, and we were surprised by our search for a hotel room. We first approached a motel that looked to be new and with probably at least 50 rooms and few vehicles in the parking lot. I noticed a sign on the door, “No Vacancy.” I couldn’t believe it so I asked and they reported that they’d been booked for weeks. They suggested we try the Limetree Inn, and they did indeed have a room – two-story, reasonably maintained but no elevator. We covered my scooter for the night, and it did rain later. Breakfast was taken at the motel restaurant – not memorable, but satisfying. John went to a steakhouse for dinner, and I had a Sweet and Salty bar. We had hoped for a glass of wine, but a lot of counties in this part of Arkansas are dry. We were stunned. I told John to call me if they had something alcoholic or good dessert at the steakhouse. He called to report no wine and that the dessert looked like it had been prepared the day before at a cafeteria.

Gassed up in the following cities (city followed by mileage indicated on odometer, gallons of gas and price)

Bellaire, 920.7 (3.2 g. $10.42)
Lufkin, TX; 1,037 (2.6 g, $8.80)
Diana. TX (2.6 g, $8.50)
De Queen, AR,10,295 (2.2 g, $7.10)

Day 2 Tuesday, Oct. 18

Departed @10 Mena, Ark., US 71 to Y City to Booth AR 23. We followed this highway to Eureka Springs. We stayed at the Basin Park Hotel in historic downtown area. (arrived @4:30) (Night 1 of 2 at Basin Park Hotel) We had lunch at a rustic log cabin-like restaurant in Brashears or Cass on AR23.

Gassed up in Mena, Ark. (didn’t log details); again in Booneville at 1,406 miles (2.2 g., $7.60).

AR 23 is a cyclist’s dream with sharp curves and steep hills.  The roads had a smooth surface and were well marked with advisory signs. I provided John some advice about speeds in corners since there were so many sharp curves. The rule of thumb was anything marked as 30 mph or higher could be taken at 10 miles mph more, but marked corners of 15 to 20 should be entered at maybe +5 mph. Anything marked at less than 15 should be entered at that speed and no more. The lower part of this road is known as the “Pigs Tail” roughly between Cass and Brashears (19 miles) crossing both the Mulberry and the White Rivers. It is full of corkscrew turns and is a great drive that goes through some of the most scenic parts in the state, especially in spring and fall.

Day 3 Wednesday, Oct. 19

Stayed at the Basin Park Hotel in historic town area (night 2 of 2 at Basin Park).

We ate breakfast at Local Flavors restaurant – great food and service. Best omelet I’ve ever had.

Lunched at Crescent Hotel and Spa – historic hotel in old section of city. The hotel was originally a treatment center for TB and later was a military hospital.

Left the hotel @10:30. Took US 62, which turned onto AR182, back to US62, and this took us to the Beaver Bridge, built in 1943 across the White River. It is a suspension bridge build entirely of wood. From there we took US 62 and then turned onto AR37 to Seligman, Mo., then 112 to Roaring River State Park.

We focused on Roaring River State Park and the fish hatchery and stream that originates and is viewable from a spring within a cave. A paved path takes you to the mouth of the cave. There are hundreds of trout of all sizes above and below the hatchery. Fish are released into the stream daily during the season.

Phil bought a great versatile fanny pack with a large number of zippered pockets of varying sizes. This was our second night at the Basin Park Hotel. We had a great room with two queen beds, a sitting room and large bathroom with a shower into a very large Jacuzzi tub. There was no curtain but the shower did not splash out of the tub area ($79/night + tax).

Gassed up in Seligman, Mo., at 1,543 miles (2.75 g., $9.01) and ate at the Local Flavor Café ($11.12).

Day 4 Thursday, Oct. 20

We had breakfast again at the Local Flavors restaurant. I was told that the waitress said I had asked her for a date. (I had not!) But we had a great time joking with her.

Checked mileage in Eureka Springs, 1,595 at start of today. Breakfast at Local Flavor Café, $11.45.

Departed Eureka Springs 11:15 a.m. after buying a bottle of wine at Quicker Liquor so we could have wine with dinner at the Jasper Hotel and Restaurant (dry county) – good to be forewarned. Arrived at War Eagle Grist Mill at 11:51 a.m.

Gassed up in Rogers, Ark., at 1,642 miles (2.1g, $6.75). Dinner in Jasper, Ark., at the Arkansas House Hotel. Phil had buffalo steak; John had elk steak.

Highlight of trip was to travel to War Eagle Grist Mill, where we spent about 40 minutes. Very interesting historical site with a lot of Civil War involvement. Traveled from there to Rogers and was disappointed in the city. Very congested and spread out; we decided not to find the Harley dealership so proceeded toward Jasper for the night with a stop to visit Jim and Eula Monahan 6 miles south of Osage, Ark.

Stayed at Arkansas House Hotel.  Arrived at ~6 p.m. 1,941 miles

Day 5 Friday, Oct. 21

Left Jasper at 9:15 a.m. to arrive at Broken Bow, Okla. ~6:30 p.m.

Approximately 60 miles of the highway that passes through the Ozark and Ouachita National Forests has been designated by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the National Forest Scenic Byways system. Distinctive mountain scenery and outstanding fall colors can be enjoyed while traveling through the Ouachita and Ozark Mountains on the Scenic 7 Byway.

The Talimena Scenic Byway (54 miles) falls gently like a ribbon over Winding Stair and Rich Mountains. Cresting the highest points between the Appalachians and the Rockies, this byway showcases nature’s quiet solitude. One breathtaking panorama follows another as this National Forest Scenic Byway winds along forested mountaintops between Mena, Ark., and Talihina, Okla. Visited Queen Wilhelmina State Park in Arkansas and the Talimena State Park in Oklahoma.

Gassed up in Dover, Ark. at 1,800 miles (2.94 g., $9.60) and Hodgens, Okla. at 1,975 miles (3.26 g., $10.77).

Stayed at the Best Western Hotel in Broken Bow, Okla.

Great, mostly smooth roads with lots of curves. We left Mena to cross over the ridge of the Ouachita Mountains into Oklahoma via the Queen Wilhamena State Park using AR 88 and OK 1. Great vistas on both sides of the ridge, and there were lots of motorcyclists who were involved in the Christian Motorcyclists Association. Even US 259 was a great ride on smooth road with sweeping curves and a few sharper ones again with beautiful scenery.

Day 6 Saturday, Oct. 22

Gassed up at Broken Bow, Okla. (8:20 a.m.) at 2,058 miles (1.5 g., $5.10) and at Longview, Tex., at 2,173 miles. Reached Bellaire at 2,390 miles; Burgman trailered from Longview to Bellaire.

Total cost: About $500 each. Total mileage: 1,445.

“Because you take after me,” she said.

That’s when the idea of Lessons from Babe was born. I’d been a ‘60s, feminist-aspiring, bellbottom-wearing daughter, who was sorely disappointed with my low-achieving (in my eyes), stay-at-home, housewife Mom. Half a century later, I’ve lived long enough to realize how badly I underestimated her and how smart she is. And at 95½, she’s put up with me long enough to finally hear me sing her praises. Of the dozens of lessons I’ve learned from Mom, who’s known as Babe, here are a few of my favorites just in time for Mother’s Day.

Lesson 1: “Make the best of it.”

One morning, during the first of our many daily phone calls between L.A. and Houston, Mom reported that the sky was black; there was thunder, lightning and a terrible rainstorm. “It’s frightening,” she said. The large plate-glass windows in her apartment on the fourteenth floor of her senior residential building would give her a bird’s eye view of such a storm.

Babe and 3 year-old Jo get some sun, stylishly.

“If it’s so scary, go down to the second floor,” I said, referring to the floor with smaller windows where the residents play poker and gather for happy hour.

“I’m not dressed yet,” she said. “Don’t worry. I’ll make the best of it.”

Mom has had a lifetime of making the best of it, especially during the worst of times. About 50 years ago, when her beloved mother died, Mom’s sisters in Seattle assured her that she didn’t have to go home for the funeral – not surprising since in 1961 folks didn’t hop on a plane like they do now.

Mother blew her entire inheritance on a used red 1960 Ford Sunliner convertible, and that summer she drove my brother, a friend of my brother’s, my sister and my 14-year-old bikini-wearing self, who lounged in the backseat to get a tan, to Seattle to visit her Mother’s grave. Babe drove with the top down all the way. Now that’s making the best of it.

Lesson 2: “Thank-you notes are never too plentiful.”

Mother was such a stickler about thank-you notes it seemed as if I were barely out of the womb when she got me my first box of dime-store stationary. Under her tutelage I felt I had to start writing the thank you while I was still tearing open the wrapping paper, and I resented it.

“When people think so kindly of you to send a present, a thank-you note is a nice way of saying, I appreciate your thinking of me. Thank-you notes are never too plentiful. That’s the whole thing in a nutshell,” Mom explains today.

When I was a child, Mom’s idea of writing thank yous was reinforced by Dad who, unfortunately, took her maxim to an extreme. There was a fancy department store in our town, and we didn’t usually get presents from there. One day when I was six years old my parents came home with a big gift-wrapped box from the fancy store. For me? For me.

I ripped opened the box, and lying there in the tissue was a winter coat. A purple coat.

Sensing my sinking spirits, Mom explained that it had been on sale, so it couldn’t be returned. “Try it on,” she urged.

As if it were a dead thing, I slipped it on. The sleeves were so long they hung over my hands. “I hate purple.” I slumped my shoulders.

“We went to a great effort to get you this present,” said Mom.

“Toots!” said my Dad, “you’ll learn to be grateful. Or else.”

For my punishment I had to write 1,000 sentences: I will be grateful for everything I get.

Every day after school I trudged down to the little card table in our basement. I was just learning cursive, and gripping a #2 pencil hard, it took forever to fill just one page.

Not so long ago I was telling this story, and my mother interrupted. “You never had to write a thousand. You got to stop at five hundred.”

Not true, Mom.

Toward the end of my Dad’s life, when he was visiting me for what turned out to be the last time, he said, “Can you ever forgive me for making you write those sentences?”

Babe walks the bride down the aisle when daughter Jo Giese married in 2009. (Photo: Brad Stanley)

“Dad, I forgave you years ago, after years and years of therapy!”

Although today such severe punishment might illicit a call to the child-abuse hotline, it had a lasting positive impact: I write thank yous immediately. Always.

I’m embarrassed to admit that the flip side of this lesson is that when folks don’t express gratitude for something I’ve done for them, sometimes I’d like to banish them to a metaphorical basement with a #2 pencil.

Lesson 3: “People don’t like to be around depressed people.”

My parents had been married almost 54 years when my father died, and I worried that Mother would be lost, adrift, depressed.

Instead, while my father’s ashes were still warm, Mother renewed her passport. (From the crematorium, where we chose a cardboard cylinder for Dad’s ashes because Mom knew he wouldn’t want her wasting good money on anything fancy, we went directly to the passport office.) Then Mom left for Europe with my sister. “Life is for the living,” she explained.

When times got even tougher, when Mom had outlived all her friends, and then her only remaining sister died, her behavior puzzled me.

“Why aren’t you depressed?” I asked her. I was pretty sure if I were in her sad situation I’d be drowning in depression.

“People don’t like to be around depressed people,” she said.

Oh.

For Babe, who is sociable, it was that simple. She chose not to sink into despair because she didn’t want to be a social outcast.

Lesson 4: “Sharing fun is the whole thing.”

This lesson falls into the category of Always Be Ready to Party and Celebrate Everything – even a hurricane. In 1961, meteorologists were predicting that the eye of Hurricane Carla, with 175 mph winds, one of the most powerful storms to ever strike the U.S., was headed for Houston. We taped up our windows like they showed us on TV, and along with a half-million others, we prepared to evacuate.

The plan was that Mom and her three kids, and our next-door neighbor and her five kids, would squeeze into Dad’s Blackhawk Studebaker. Except when Eileen showed up with all her children, and the parakeet in its cage, and a huge jug of water, Mom realized her neighbor didn’t know any more about evacuating than she did. Since everyone was in the same boat – no power and no water – in no time all the neighbors had gathered in our little living room around a campfire of candles and lanterns.

Hour after hour as we waited for Carla to slam into us, we hung out playing board games and eating food, such as it was.

“Sharing fun is the whole thing,” Mom explained years later.

Carla spent its fury in Galveston, but I still savor Waiting-for-Carla as one of the scariest yet friendliest memories of my childhood.

Lesson 5: “Don’t be drab.”

Not so long ago, I busted my tush to arrive at Mom’s apartment in time for dinner.  But as I entered her place, the first words out of her mouth were, “You used to wear such colorful clothes. You look drab.”

“Mom, gimme a break! I just got off the plane!”

We were joining her new friends in the building for the first time, and I’d forgotten that she’d want to show me off. My black travel outfit was, as she would put it, nothing to write home about.

“Don’t be drab” is one of her mantras.

Mom favors what she calls happy colors – turquoise, pinks, purple, chartreuse. Nowadays, post-shingles, she’s apt to be wearing a comfortable velour sweat suit – but it’s colorful.

She never needed to hire a color consultant. She knew color broadcasted how she felt, and made her attractive – as in, color attracts people to her.  And wearing color is about more than looking pretty, though Mom certainly favors that, too. It’s about being part of the social conversation.

I experienced this when I was visiting the Taj Mahal and happened to be wearing a saffron-colored kurta. Indian people kept bowing to me. “You’re a healer,” they’d say. It made no difference that I kept shaking my head no because my saffron color was the same color as the robes of Buddhist monks. Finally, I realized, hey, if it makes them happy for a blonde pigtailed tourist from L.A. to be a healer, okay. From then on when people bowed to me – bowed to the color I was wearing – I folded my hands prayer-like, said, “Namaste,” and bowed back to them in blessing.

Editor’s Note: Jo Giese’s first job as a journalist was for the Houston Post. At public radio, she has been an award-winning correspondent for Marketplace and a contributor to This American Life. Lessons from Babe is an excerpt from a book in progress.

Everybody has a passion. That is a ubiquitous truth. The difficulty is finding one’s particular calling. I must have gotten lucky, because, after eighth grade, I had found mine – photography.

Brandon Merz, a junior at Episcopal High School, hopes to study photojournalism in college.

Photography, to me, is more than just taking pictures; it is a mode of self-expression and a way for me to tell stories. A skilled photographer can embed very powerful meanings within a photograph, which need only be given a cursory analysis to unearth. It is this unfathomable depth that draws me to photography.

Recently, on my way to school, I passed by what used to be Teas Nursery. Perhaps it was just the way that the light struck the buildings, filtering through the dust-laden windows, but I was absolutely floored by the place’s ethereal beauty. Later that day, I made contact with the Bellaire Parks and Recreation Department and was directed to the Evelyn’s Park Conservancy, the group which is redeveloping the site.

I spent the next few weeks thinking of nothing other than shooting at the nursery. I had images of me moving between the abandoned warehouses, camera plastered to my eye, capturing everything that drew my attention. Finally, though, after what seemed to me to be eons, I got the green light from my contact, giving me permission to go shoot.

My shoot took no more than an hour and a half, but I returned home with roughly 20 images with which I was quite pleased. I later found out that I was only the second person to have documented the nursery and its aging structures in this period of transformation.

From my amazing experience at Teas, I have learned two very important lessons. Firstly, you must pursue your passion. Secondly, I learned that the past is not something to simply be forgotten, lost to the history books, but something to be explored and celebrated. I am truly grateful to those who made this dream a reality.
 
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With 49 goals in the regular season, junior Natalie Cohen was the leading scorer for the District 20-5A Champion Lamar Redskins soccer team.

“The last couple of years our defense has been our strength, but this season, our girls are scoring more goals than they ever have,” said Redskins head coach Ryan Holley. “To win 22 regular-season games is a huge achievement.”

Leading the Redskins in scoring was junior Natalie Cohen, who scored 49 goals with 19 assists in the Redskins’ 25 regular season games. “Natalie’s our top player,” said Holley. “She’s relentless on the field and can really take over a game.”

In just her freshman season, Christiana Sullivan is the second leading scorer for the District 20-5A Champion Lamar Redskins soccer team.

The Redskins’ second-leading scorer is freshman Christiana Sullivan, who finished the regular season with 34 goals and 26 assists. “She’s probably the best freshman soccer player I’ve ever seen,” said Holley. “She’s tall and extremely athletic with great ball skills.” Other top offensive players for the Redskins include senior Brittany Ripperger, as well as a trio of outstanding sophomores in Kelly Andrus, Sarah Gifford and Ellie Valega.

Defensively, Holley had high praise for several of his players, including senior Mariah Caid-Loos, who was the district MVP last year and is a four-year starter for the Redskins. In addition, Sarah Tharpe, Reenie Fisch, Jennifer Harris, Marissa Caid-Loos (Mariah’s twin sister) and goalkeeper Kira Ratliff all made a big impact on the defensive end for the Redskins.

Bellaire third baseman Molly Oretsky is the leading hitter for a young but extremely talented Cardinals softball team.

With an overall 18-6 record, and a perfect 8-0 mark halfway through the district season, the Bellaire Cardinals softball team was in great position to win the district championship for the 13th time in the last 14 seasons. “We only have 13 players on our roster, which is a pretty small amount, but these girls can really play some ball,” said Cardinals head coach Brian Tuffly.

Despite losing 10 players to graduation, the Cardinals have continued their winning ways with an extremely young lineup. “We had a very strong junior varsity last season, and many of those girls could’ve started for a lot of varsity teams. So, we’ve got a lot of talented players,” said Tuffly.

The Cardinals’ talented lineup included sophomore third baseman Molly Oretsky, who boasted a .470 batting average with two home runs and a spectacular 28 stolen bases late into the regular season. Next to Oretsky on the left side of the infield, shortstop Libby Brown carried a powerful bat as well, with a .380 batting average and 14 stolen bases. Plus, second baseman Jasmin Vasquez boasted a .440 batting average with 24 stolen bases.

On the mound for the Cardinals, junior Kristen West and sophomore Gabi Alatorre pitched well throughout the season.  “Kristen and Gabi aren’t strikeout pitchers like we’ve had in the past, but they’re getting the job done,” said Tuffly.

The Stratford Spartans boys team captured the Class 4A UIL State Swimming and Diving Championship. It was the school’s first state title in a team sport in 34 years. (Photo: R. Scott Jackson Photography)

With its victory at the UIL State Swimming and Diving Championships, the Stratford Spartans won the school’s first state team title in 34 years. “I can’t put into words all the hard work these kids put forward,” said Spartans head coach Mike Hoskovec. “We had our eye on winning state ever since we came up just short last season. Our team put together an amazing effort.”

It was an especially amazing meet for senior Ford Story, who broke the oldest class 4A state record in winning the 100-yard breaststroke. “It was pretty awesome,” said Story.  “It was my goal through all of high school to break the record.”

Story also teamed with Rob Gahn, Juan Hirsch and Michael Miller to win the gold medal in the 200-medley relay. For his part, Miller also won silver medals in the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly, where he also broke a school record. “It was really special to be a part of a team like this,” said Miller.

In addition, the Spartans’ foursome of Alec Willrodt, Kyle Rathgeb, Hirsch and Story won a silver medal in the 200-freestyle relay while Andrew McCleary, Willrodt, Rathgeb and Miller, with Gahn subbing  in for the finals, broke a school record while winning a silver medal in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

On the girls’ side, it was a spectacular meet for Spartans freshman diver Phoebe Lamay, who won the 4A state championship in diving. Lamay rallied from behind with three high-scoring dives to win the gold medal.

Editor’s Note: Lone Star Emmy Award-winner Todd Freed is the host and producer of Todd Freed’s High School SportZone, which can be seen Sunday evenings at 9 p.m. on Channel 57-The KUBE. To submit information for possible inclusion in SportzBuzz, please email (todd@thebuzzmagazines.com) todd (at) thebuzzmagazines (dot) com.

In last year’s popular book Ready Player One, the author describes a near future that is poor and grim. Yet even the most unfortunate kid – including the neglected hero who lives in a trailer park of old RVs stacked on top of each other – can go to the best school. Not in person, but online by using a digital avatar at a virtual-reality campus.

Gaby Wojtowicz took online speech while traveling in Greece. “Doing online summer school is definitely an advantage because you can do it from anywhere in the world,” she says.

While we can hope that the novel’s apocalyptic landscape isn’t our future, we are moving steadily toward its vision of online education, though not in fully realized immersive 3D – at least not yet.

Already, however, students worldwide learn by watching free educational videos at popular sites like Khan Academy’s website (khanacademy.org) and new iPad app. Others learn at youtube.com/education, a compilation that includes TED-Ed’s new channel.

In Bellaire, a parent makes her middle school student watch Khan Academy videos since he said was bored at school – he said he likes that one 10-minute video can cover a semester’s worth of highlights.

But the options go beyond videos. Increasingly, as The Wall Street Journal wrote recently, professors at exclusive colleges are offering courses online. Students of all ages study interactively at sites like Piazza (piazza.com), Moodle (moodle.org) and Quizlet (quizlet.com).

So how is this online-education trend playing out in our local schools, particularly in high school?

While many students don’t know it, it turns out they can take a lot of their classes online – for credit.

The courses vary and may include video lectures, interactive worksheets, videoconferencing, conversation forums and physical textbooks. Most require graded homework and tests and sometimes essays. Some are free, and some cost a few hundred dollars per course. They are taken, with credit transferred as necessary, via school districts, private companies and colleges.

Gaby Wojtowicz, a senior at Memorial High School, took an online speech class while traveling in Greece so she could fit in film-production electives during the year. She liked working on her own time and having long conversations with the teacher via an online audio stream.

“I had to stand front of the camera and give a speech for three minutes. If you’re shy, it’s great to do it online,” she said. “Doing online summer school is definitely an advantage because you can do it from anywhere in the world.”

High school students who choose virtual schooling span the spectrum.

Some overachievers take online summer courses so they can boost their GPA by taking extra 5.0 grade point classes during the regular school year, or so they can have a study lab for grueling coursework. Some take classes online because they heard the regular course was a killer.

“Our International Baccalaureate (IB) students often take physics during the summer to free up room during their senior year for their IB projects,” says Joel Smith of Spring Branch ISD’s Virtual High School. “Many juniors take government and economics to allow them to focus on their AP senior classes. A private-school parent had her daughter retake a math course that she barely passed to strengthen her skills. The student pulled straight As in math the following semester at a rigorous high school.”

Sami Moon takes online classes because of her packed schedule. “The reason I was able to be in FFA is because of virtual high school,” she says, “and the reason I want to do FFA is because I want to be a vet.”

At Bellaire High School, some students take health and speech online the summer before their freshman year. If their middle-school counselors give approval, they can take certain courses for credit instead of a grade and not have 4.0 classes potentially pull down their GPA.

Once students start high school, earning grades vs. credit-only depends on the district and campus. Smith says most schools count online summer courses as credit-only. But HISD says it factors in the grades of every course taken between ninth and 12th grade. Students also must get counselor approval beforehand.

Online classes can be a good option for students needing to retake failing classes or incompletes, as well as those at home or hospitalized with a long-term illness. Others use the courses to supplement homeschooling or to allow time for competitive gymnastics or other intensive sports or art projects. At The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, students take online physical education – yes, P.E. – so they have more time for their art-specialty classes.

Other online students have included a teen who took Spanish 3 while on a mission trip to Honduras, where he practiced his schoolwork, as well as a teen mother who worked through assignments while her toddler was taking naps. Some campuses and districts offer laptop check-out programs.

Sami Moon, a junior at Memorial who wants to be a veterinarian, took AP History online so she could fit in a study hall, band and FFA activities. “To be honest, I learned more about myself than just history. I learned I can set goals and keep them.” She also learned her best work hours came late at night. “I was sending assignments in at midnight. I was ready to go, and I was working.”

Her only concern is that she is scheduled to take the AP History exam in May, and because she took the course so long ago, last summer, the information is not fresh in her mind. Fortunately, SBISD offers AP reviews in late April for online students. She plans on taking government and economics online over the summer.

Derrick Anderson runs Bellaire High School’s Graduation Lab, where students can take online courses both in a classroom on campus and from home. He estimates that 25 percent of BHS students take some form of virtual course. He says a typical online semester course includes “an average of 750 pages, 1,000 images, 250 multimedia tutorials, 250 interactive exercises and dozens of vetted web links.”

“When it comes to intense, heavy-content subjects, I recommend that they [students] take them with a teacher and not in the online environment,” he said. “Taking courses virtually puts much of the responsibility on the student, and they must stay on top of the coursework in order to be successful.”

Yet Joel Smith of Spring Branch ISD’s Virtual High School thinks online classes can be even more personal: “The technology does most of the ‘first teaching’ and grading; this frees the online instructor to provide personalized interaction with students. Online courses make frequent use of student-to-student academic discussion forums … that offer a more persistent and thoughtful discussion thread. Students who might hesitate to speak up in a crowded classroom are more comfortable posting their thoughts in the Facebook-like environment of an online course.”

For students and parents, there are almost too many options for online classes, especially since you can take classes just about anywhere and transfer the credits.

Spring Branch’s Virtual High School (vhs.springbranchisd.com/) is good place to start. It is well-regarded in this field and provides Texas Education Agency-approved online classes, for $200 or 350 apiece, to students nationwide, even though a lot of counselors at Houston-area campuses don’t realize that.

SBISD’s Smith says he takes calls from students nationwide, helping them to “do some matchmaking” with the right course. “We try to simplify it,” he says. The options include customizing a course to fit around athletics training or family trips. For some summer courses, students come to the Virtual High School office for in-person mentoring a few hours each week.

HISD’s Virtual School Department (vschool.houstonisd.org) offers free courses through its Graduation Labs and, for $200-250/course, through other sources, including the Texas Virtual School Network (txvsn.org). Many courses come from apexlearning.com and texasconnectionsacademy.com.

Texas Tech University’s online K-12 school (www.depts.ttu.edu/uc/k-12/), at roughly $200 per course, is also a popular choice for local students, and school districts route students there for certain electives.

Registration is taking place at all these sites now for summer. And even online classes fill up.

Editor’s note: A shorter version of this story appeared in the April print issue of the magazine.

My name is Prince Reese Peanut Butter Cup. I’m also known as Reese. I’m the coolest Cocker Spaniel in town. Everyone loves me, or at least I think so. It may be just my mohawk or my lovable personality. I love meeting new people and playing fetch in an empty park. My orange ball is my favorite toy; throw it to me and I will catch it and throw it back! Yes, I’m that awesome. When I want to play, I drop my ball at your feet and whine until you feel obligated to throw me the ball. My owner is a busy law student so it’s easy to make her feel guilty enough to play. I know how to get what I want, and I have puppy-dog eyes. My owner spoils me rotten, and I think I deserve it. Well, this is Reese, signing off!

Got a cute canine or a photogenic feline? Email a picture of your pet with approximately 150 words to (info@thebuzzmagazines.com) info (at) thebuzzmagazines (dot) com or mail it to The Buzz Magazines, 5001 Bissonnet, Suite 100, Bellaire, TX 77401. Featured pets receive two passes to Rover Oaks Pet Resort. Each pass can be redeemed for one day of lodging in a Bunk House Suite, 25% off your next grooming appointment or 25% off one obedience training class.

Once upon a time, impressed with myself, I bought under-bed boxes and started collecting pieces in them. Each child had her own, under her own bed, all very organized. Eventually the boxes multiplied, and now each child owns several now-overflowing and disheveled bins that no longer close and fit under the beds only when I sit on the floor and push the boxes with my feet to stuff them back under.

Alec, Nicole, Evan and Eliya Gibson (from left) display some of the kids' prolific artwork. Mom Nicole plans to archive it in books she'll create online. (Photo: www.hartphoto.com)

A friend in River Oaks said it perfectly: “My kids’ artwork used to be organized and stored in bins but for God knows what. So I started putting it in a big kitchen drawer when they came home from school. The problem now is I have a big kitchen drawer that I don’t have the energy to go through.”

Surely there are better ways to honor our Picassos-in-the-making.

Mom of three Nicole Gibson says, “It’s a project in the works.” She’s slowly sorting through her three children’s work, temporarily storing it in portfolios and plastic bins. The ultimate goal, she says, is to photograph it all and create books on Shutterly (shutterfly.com) or Snapfish (snapfish.com) for each child. “Oversized, like coffee table books.”

“Then I’ll be able to ditch the originals, except for a few that I’ll frame. Because who has room to keep the originals?”

Meredith Vela works with young renal patients at Texas Children’s Hospital. She is putting Nicole’s logic to work there.

“We’ve started taking pictures of all the patients’ artwork, especially the more cumbersome pieces,” Meredith says. “We plan to put all the pictures into book form at the end of the year and give them to parents as keepsakes.”

Meredith’s also creative with her own kids’ artwork at home. “Years ago, I saw a picture in a magazine of an entire wall covered in cork. At Hobby Lobby, I happened upon large, removable cork-board pieces and liked the idea. Now the cork lines one wall in our playroom, and I hang art and pictures of the kids with their friends on it.”

At Memorial Drive Elementary, they’re using Artsonia (artsonia.com), a website that calls itself “the world’s largest kids’ art museum.” It’s a free tool where teachers upload kids’ art and parents and grandparents view it, share it and comment on it. Each child has his or her own gallery, and art can be purchased as gifts – coffee mugs, mouse pads, t-shirts and more. Fifteen percent of profits go back to the school. At MDE, they’re funneled right back into the school’s art program.

For those who either aren’t computer savvy or don’t have the energy to create their own digital galleries and books, Jacqueline Kenneally, owner of the kids’ art school Art Mix, suggests checking out Plum Print (plumprint.com). Created by two New York apartment-dwelling moms without much excess space, Plum Print accepts original art, including captions and details like age, date and “this side up,” and turns it into 20- to 120-page books, hard- or soft-cover, ranging in price from $85 to $405. Consider signing up for their weekly blog Plum Ideas to get ideas for art project, tips on organizing art supplies and the like.

More ideas to consider:

Create a “Wall of Fame.” Let kids choose one item to frame and hang on a designated wall.

Keep clear plastic box frames hung in the kitchen. Rotate art when new masterpieces come home.

Create a collage on an “inconspicuous” wall in a hallway, using painter’s tape to hang the art.

One creative West U mom suggests wallpapering the garage.

Decorate kids’ bathrooms with their own framed art.

One mom’s advice: “Frame the really good stuff, toss the not-so-great stuff and file everything in between in big portfolios from Texas Art Supply.”

And if all else fails, Jennifer Touchet, a very practical mom of three, says, “Really cute trash cans are great for this kind of organizing project.”