To seat or not to seat, that is the question

Perhaps I am overprotective. Perhaps I worry about odd things. Perhaps I have too much free thinking time while feeding Rusty and being unable to do much else. Perhaps I am normal. Perhaps it is because Billy is about to outgrow his. Whatever the reason, car seats have been on my mind.

I have very little experience flying with little ones. Actually I have just one experience and I learned a lot from it . . . suitcases can explode, 20 month old boys can pop blood vessels in the neck and face from crying, and car seats are bulky to travel with. On our trip to Hawaii, we may have used Ricky’s car seat once, maybe. But we diligently dragged it along.

It was annoying, but not so bad since we only had the one. This November we will have 3 who, by Utah law, require car seats or boosters.

Here is my dilemma: do we take the car seats or not? Convenience says, nah. Conscience says, Heck yeah! Spatial awareness says, Do you remember how small the cabin will be?

So I started thinking. We will be in a car from airport to hotel and any shore excursions. Are there even going to be seatbelts any of those times? Do I want to drag a car seat around on excursions with me? Would I be able to live with myself if an accident were to happen and I had made the decision to not have one of my boys in a car seat? I’ve checked Florida law and it requires those 3 and under to be restrained in more than just the vehicle’s seat belt. I would assume seatbelts would be available in Florida, but the other places?

What about on the plane? Ricky and Billy will have their own seats, so we could possibly use their car seats on the plane (probably a good idea with Billy–he’s crazy, that one!). But to do that, I have to check to see if they are FAA approved. And if we check them, that takes up one of our bag restrictions (although Tony’s family will be traveling so light that I’m sure they would let us use some of theirs). Can you see why in the wee hours of the morning, this line of thought can be a bit overwhelming?

I have therefore done a bit of research and come upon a couple of possible solutions.

1. RideSafer Travel Vest (cost $80)

Meets or exceeds applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS)
Two sizes: Small (35-60 lbs) and Large (50-80 lbs)

2. FreedomRide Harness (cost $47)


Complies with all U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
Fits children 20-50 lbs
The pictures make me think of duct tape contraptions!

3. Eddie Bauer Portable Car Seat (cost $170)This one folds flat in to go in a suitcase, but it is hard or next to impossible to find.

4. Traveling Toddler Car Seat Travel Accessory ($15)

This is just an easier way to transport the regular car seat through the airport.



None of those options address the car seat on the air plane issue. Not all car seats are approved for airplane travel. If ours are not, I found two other options for that.

1. Baby B’Air Toddler Flying Vest ($27-40)

This would only work for those tots who are lap riders (hello, Rusty). It attaches to the grown-up’s seat belt and is not “allowed” for take-off and landings.

2. CARES Child Aviation Restraint System ($74)
This is designed to simulate a 5 harness car seat but just buckles to the airplane seat. Pretty cool and if we were to fly more than once very 3 years, I’d seriously consider it.


I know most of you don’t have any real interest in this particular issue (only Dan & Cathy need car seats for their kiddos), but it is a handy place to keep my research. Thanks for listening!

You Can Uku too!

( This is not me or anyone I know, thank goodness. But I do have all of those colorful sound tubes, just not the jazzy outfit! Hint, hint, my birthday is the 27th of July!)


I don't know how many of you on the blog know that I teach music. Well, Jan taught music, I teach about music. I don't have a lot of instruments for the kids to play together on (except for the dreaded recorders, aka musical instruments of torture) and the kids think when you say "play" that you mean "PLAY!" not "play". So, I teach about music and its theory and concepts and occasionally pull out the boom whackers and the ukulele and let them "PLAY!"




Like this week. With the sun and the rain and the snow and inside recess and no way to secrete excess energy, I have decided against teaching and erred on the side of playing. But, boom whackers and children having no play time equals injuries and the music room is not a game of football, so I pulled out the sea turtle ukulele and a cute little cd/uke book and have been strumming blisters into my fingertips.


I learned something this week too. Did you know that it is easier (for me at least) to tune my ukulele against another ukulele than against say, a keyboard or piano? I have struggled with tuning my uke for years, even taking it into a music store to have a courtesy tuning done. I can tune 3 strings right, but never the 4th. Its silly, but an out of tune uke is awful to listen too.


I think I found the perfect memento for our family vacations, if not this one, then certainly, the last one. I think Dan and I should get matching tats of this-it would look amazing as a sleeve, doncha think?



When I got the job here at Antelope, I spent some time in the local Riverton Music and bought a book by an Australian named Mike. It came with a cd, but I hadn't listened to it, I had played some familiar songs-he only uses 3 chords and they are the easiest ones to play so I felt I had gotten my money's worth. However, after taking my other uke in to be tuned (not my sea turtle, which I prefer-not just because it is prettier but it sounds better and its strings don't hurt me as much to strum) I pulled out Mike and decided that I would play with the cd so maybe Abby would stop pretending I was killing a cat and be a good girl. (THAT was creative writing! I don't know how to un-run-on that sentence, not just any Joe can do that!) I played the familiar songs and then learned some new ones. My fingers were killing me so I stopped for the day. Abby was relieved.

Knowing that practice makes calluses, the next day I again pulled out my uke and my cd and song book. I picked up my practice at the new song-toward the end of the track selection-and played to the end of the book. I was ready to give up my practice for the day (my pointer finger on my left hand actually had a blister on it!) when I noticed I had 3 extra tracks on my cd left. Hunh? I said out loud and before I could stop the cd, Mike told me he was going to help me tune my ukulele. And guess what? He sure did! I thought my cute turtle uke was relegated to decoration status, but nope! Mike came to the rescue! I had two sour strings which tuned right up and have stayed tuned for a week now! The kids at school have learned about "My Horse Bill" and to "Ging Gang Gooli" and I have about lost my voice, but not my mind.

I told John about my discovery and I still can't believe I hadn't thought earlier to Google for an audio file to tune my uke. After all, even Elder Hales (whose hand John and I shook after he spoke to us at Stake Conference) uses Wikipedia to learn about stuff. How cool is that? The G.A.'s are on-line!

But, now I know, and so do you! Happy playing!

P.S. I tried to find a picture of Dan on the Ukulele in Hawaii, but I don't have one. I also tried to add music to my post, but apparently I can't. But know that I am listening to "Pearly Shells" and other luau songs as I edit.

Jamaican Me Hungry

I didn't get the Islamic swimsuit on ebay. I was outbid so I'm on to Plan B.

Looks like Cate has her eyes set on a pink baby bikini. I'm on the hunt for the same one in an adult size. How adorable would we be strolling the Lido deck in matching swimwear?

Grandma, could you get started on this hamburger dress for me? I could use it as a cover-up for my swimsuit. You can see the back and side views here.

I just hope Danny grows out of his licking phase before November. I might look pretty tasty.

p.s. I know this has nothing to do with Jamaica. I thought if I stuck it in the title then it would count as fulfilling my duty. Maybe not.

Allow me to introduce myself. . .

My Mommy is not a very tech savy gal. Techno she gets, tech, not so much. I am surprised how much knowledge I have been able to acquire while eating manuals while she is at school. I meant reading, with lots of drool.

Anyway, my name is Sgt. Abigail Houdini Hubenthal and I can't blog under my own name because I don't know how to invite myself into this group. Unfortunately, I feel that way a lot at family gatherings. Always looking in from the outside, feeling cold, sometimes wet, and unable to express my emotions other than to cry, pitifully. I sometimes wonder if I am considered a part of the Olds family, or apart from it. I never used to feel this way, and then THEY started to be born. Who do you ask? THEM. The ones who poke eyes and pull tails and jump on backs for a "ride". More like a squish. Oh, they are cute enough, but they drool more than I do and don't know how to use the lawn (or hallway rugs) to take care of bodily functions. Yuck. Laying around in your own is so gross! Not at all as exhilerating as finding someone elses to roll in-preferably cow or horse, even a good old earth worm puts a twinkle in these sad eyes.

Speaking of which, they say that we look like our people. Uncle Tim certainly resembles my Mommy, if she needs a haircut, and Danny looks so much like his mother! Assuming this is so, then my Mommy either has a really saggy stomach and wrinkled jowls, or sad eyes. Maybe its because she is feeling paranoid about her job. Yesterday, a fifth grader told her that he had heard the principal saying they had found someone better than her and wanted to fire her. No joke! That is what he said! Then the JSSC (Jerks Spreading Silliness Committee) asked if they could have Art instead of Music. How is that supposed to make my Mommy feel? "Fatter" is what she told me as she ate her second Chocodile of the day. On top of all of that, I ate some grass and threw up. Yes, we were that upset!

Oh, did I not tell you I am a dog? Basset Hound, really. We don't count as dogs. We are not cats, or non-dogs (little yappy "dogs" that count for nothing put headaches and trouble), but a special bread of empathetic creatures meant to syphon away sadness and take it into ourselves, providing comfort and relief for the agreived, assuming the pathetic and tragic facial expressions so that your face won't freeze that way. Like I do for my Mommy, but I digress.

Some family members make sad eyes and don't think they are as involved as others. Not enough variety to the cruise blog, no follow through on cruise assignments-like information of events and tours or where we (that's a royal "we" since I am not invited) are staying in Miami before and after we board. I prefer to think that we are all just busy and finding an appropriate and entertaining thing to type takes more mental powers than some people posess. Anyone can cut and copy a clever or cute quote, but not everyone can explore the fashion sense of cruise guests.

And finding pictures! Especially when everything is in black and white, can be quite a nightmare! Makes me need to scratch my ear and bounce my left leg. Ooh, that is much better! I don't know if I found them all correctly, but they look close enough to me. I had better go get a drink of water now, I don't want the hard water line to be deposited at the same level in the toilet bowl after all. That is my job in my family. Everyone needs to feel important.

P.S. I think that Rusty drools like me, Cate is of course darling-like I am, although I refuse to wear a flower or bow on my head. Billy is a tease-don't ge me started! Danny is intelligent and into things, as am I. And Ricky? Well, he obviously got me tongue!