Ma and Pa Arndt's 34th anniversary

[deborahlynn1979]

I've never really looked at their blog before today, but I'm positively horrified. They are SHITTY wedding photographers if their online portfolio is any indication. I can't believe they can afford the equipment they are using: just like the Maxwells who are never without top-of-the-line cameras and lenses. Who in the world would hire these people??

I also see that they are the "subject" of an ongoing documentary, but from what I can see, it looks like they are just filming themselves, no?

[JenniferJuniper]

I've never really looked at their blog before today, but I'm positively horrified. They are SHITTY wedding photographers if their online portfolio is any indication. I can't believe they can afford the equipment they are using: just like the Maxwells who are never without top-of-the-line cameras and lenses. Who in the world would hire these people??

I also see that they are the "subject" of an ongoing documentary, but from what I can see, it looks like they are just filming themselves, no?

Not a documentary. Best anyone can tell is that's it’s a fictional love story and the lead actors are Mommy and Daddy. Daddy falls down in the snow a lot and Mommy carries around a picnic basket in the woods. The boys have been filming them in various snowy locales for at least a couple of years now. They spent half of this past winter in upstate New York working on the project. Search Vine Valley here for more info.

The money issue is one of the many enduring questions about this family. It's astounding how a family of 16 can survive living almost entirely in a fantasy land. Neither parent works and it’s hard to imagine how some wedding photo gigs and part-time court reporting is enough to keep their lifestyle going. And I find it hard to believe they are getting that many paid subscribers at their site.

[Patsy]

Neither parent works

What?!

[JenniferJuniper]

What?!

Daddy used to court report, but it seems only three or four of the older boys are involved in that now. I'm not aware of any paying work he currently does.

[Patsy]

That is just bizarre. What on earth are they living off that they can support so many people? And so many adults?

[patsymae]

I checked out the blog cursorily for the first time after reading this and yes, they are strange. Especially because when they talk they seem so normal--normal vocabulary, normal accents and speech inflections. And their jobs--photography, fixing computers, and court reporting (which is really hard--one friend of mine who has a degree in English from a top school and went to Katharine Gibbs couldn't make it through the course) demand a degree of skill and interaction with the outside world. I don't get it. Not sure if I really want to hang around long enough to puzzle it out.

Is there only the one girl in that family? I do wonder what her life is like and what will become of her (passive tense intended).

[johnhugh]

I thought the Vine Valley crap was just more You Tube videos, but it looks like a TV Version of the Moody Books. As previous posters have said, how do they live off a few wedding gigs, but how do they bank roll this rubbish? And they have been 'working' on it for over two years.

In other Arndt news:

Seems the Manboy is pretending to be Mother duck and singing the ducklings to sleep. :penguin-no: The penguins must feel left out and abandoned. :wink-penguin:

[moreorlessnu]

Hopefully, someone else can jump in w/ correct information....

I've heard court reporting can be a lucrative career once you set yourself up with the necessary training and software. If there are 3 or 4 of them performing this job, together they could easily be pulling down $200k after taxes.

[ShadowyOne]

I checked out the blog cursorily for the first time after reading this and yes, they are strange. Especially because when they talk they seem so normal--normal vocabulary, normal accents and speech inflections. And their jobs--photography, fixing computers, and court reporting (which is really hard--one friend of mine who has a degree in English from a top school and went to Katharine Gibbs couldn't make it through the course) demand a degree of skill and interaction with the outside world. I don't get it. Not sure if I really want to hang around long enough to puzzle it out.

Is there only the one girl in that family? I do wonder what her life is like and what will become of her (passive tense intended).

Wow, I almost couldn't disagree more re: the bolded. It's different from the Duggar/Keller/Gothard speech pattern, but I think it's odd just the same. In the older siblings, it isn't quite as pronounced, but I find their familial accent to be very distinctive, bordering on sounding like a speech impediment. (And it is not a regional accent; though there is a St. Louis/Southern Illinois accent/pronunciation, what they got ain't it).

That said, I agree with most of the rest. Not only do they interact with the big bad world in their jobs, but they have their big softball charity, where they interact with other teams and even celebrities (a number of St. Louis Cardinals players have been involved to some degree).

Yes, "Wizzie" is the only girl. As far as money, I seem to recall Mama Arndt's father owning some big regional company that his children (Mama A and her siblings?) now control??? I could be very wrong on the last, it's a fuzzy memory.

[Miranda]

Hopefully, someone else can jump in w/ correct information....

I've heard court reporting can be a lucrative career once you set yourself up with the necessary training and software. If there are 3 or 4 of them performing this job, together they could easily be pulling down $200k after taxes.

Yes, it can be, it just depends on how many jobs they're going out on, the nature and turnaround of the jobs and how much they're willing to travel. Even with three or four of them working a somewhat leisurely schedule, it would still be a very good income. I don't know about supporting a family of that size, but still a good income.

[JenniferJuniper]

Hopefully, someone else can jump in w/ correct information....

I've heard court reporting can be a lucrative career once you set yourself up with the necessary training and software. If there are 3 or 4 of them performing this job, together they could easily be pulling down $200k after taxes.

It doesn't seem as though they are doing enough jobs to each be pulling in 50k - 60k a year. When the family went on its 2+ month sabbatical to upstate NY, only a couple at a time stayed behind to work and it didn't seem like they were heading off to depos too often. Maybe they are doing some remote transcription, but that probably pays less than on-site reporting would.

I can't imagine what it costs to heat and cool that house and to feed all of those men. Mommy's has them scared to death of calories though, so that probably helps with the grocery bill.

[darkplumaged]

That is just bizarre. What on earth are they living off that they can support so many people? And so many adults?

I think Mama A comes from money. It was discussed briefly on a previous thread.

[JenniferJuniper]

I think Mama A comes from money. It was discussed briefly on a previous thread.

So Daddy leeches off his kids' as well as his wife's money and does nothing but periodically type Bible verses, play softball, and have the kids film him pontificating about life and falling around in the snow? Why couldn't I have found me a man like that? ;)

[Pond]

Photos that are visible on Paul's FB are pretty remarkable. Wizzie looks all of 11 years old. Mama Arndt is caught without her usual, pursed-lips smirk, and she looks downright intimidating. Whoever saw her ordering the childults around Wal-Mart without uttering a word, I can believe it.

I looked at some of the photos of all the older brothers and thought, "Could they be mistaken for a Fire Island team?" and you know, I didn't get that vibe. Just totally asexual, so odd coming from photos of 6 or 7 presumably vigorous young men in their late 20s and early 30s. We've heard of baby hoarders .... kind of insane to think of that behavior continuing into the babies' early middle-age period. W.e.i.r.d.

ETA == even more confounding - that the family or at least part of it was taken along on a destination wedding to Florida. The photos are nice, but then, the couple are very photogenic. I'm not at all impressed that the Arndt photography is in any way superior to anything else that's out there.

And yet they are schlepped from the mid-continent to the coast. What gives, I wonder? :(

11? I think she looks more like 9. If you see Paul's cover pic, it's kind of disturbing how young she looks. Almost makes you think they could be father and daughter. *shudder*

And their wedding photography... Mediocre to say the least. As someone from a photography background, they're just a bunch of men with digital cameras and charging ridiculous prices for mid-quality wedding photos. Themed wedding photos? Really? I honestly thought they went out of style after 1995? I know friends who do a better job for less.

[MrMattyMatt]

I remember the episode where they explained the obsession with baseball. Pa Arndt wanted to be a pro but didn't make it or decided not to, can't remember which... Anyway - I wonder if he's till harboring some sort of turmoil over that and his way of dealing with it is to suppress his own kid's lives and dreams....

[Dandruff]

Will they let their daughter play softball with them when she's old enough?

[JenniferJuniper]

Will they let their daughter play softball with them when she's old enough?

She met the age requirement a couple of years ago, so no, Wizzie is a permanent cheerleader.

I'm pretty sure they play in a men’s-only league.

[bananacat]

And their wedding photography... Mediocre to say the least. As someone from a photography background, they're just a bunch of men with digital cameras and charging ridiculous prices for mid-quality wedding photos. Themed wedding photos? Really? I honestly thought they went out of style after 1995? I know friends who do a better job for less.

Yeah, pretty much right at the time when their lives stopped. It's super creepy but it fits right in with their weird time-capsule culture.

[Dandruff]

She met the age requirement a couple of years ago, so no, Wizzie is a permanent cheerleader.

I'm pretty sure they play in a men’s-only league.

This is getting more and more interesting. Does she have female friends? Separate hobbies? Does she join her brothers when they're playing hide & seek, legos, etc? Is she treated differently, aside from not getting to be in the softball league?

[johnhugh]

One of the manboys has new shoes!!1! :wink-penguin:

[salex]

One of the manboys has new shoes!!1! :wink-penguin:

:wtf:

Um, is mom making sure the shoe fits?

How old is he and does she think his feet are still growing, or does he not know how to tie his shoes

[johnhugh]

I would imagine that kath would like to think all the Manboys feet are still growing...

[already hungover]

Their lawn mower got clogged with grass clippings so they cleaned it out!!!!!!!