CarVan 14: The Abeka Boxes Have Started to Arrive

[gobucks]

Zade's lead level is back in the normal range. Same for his iron. He will be discontinuing the iron daily supplement he was taking. 

[rebeccawriter01]

Stewarts' weekly video - 

1. Evan does his cheesy intro and introduces his "wife, Carlin." Evan apparently now thinks that the vlog is his and people tune in for him. I tune in for the snark when I'm bored but this cracked me up.

2. Carlin is talking about how she and the others with the boutique have to be ahead of the game for Thanksgiving and other holidays (she mentions Christmas). My mother was in the retail display business for more than a few decades. Twoish weeks before the season starts is not ahead of the game. Those photoshoots and emails, etc. should have been done a long time ago. More proof they don't know what the heck they are doing.

3. Zade's lead and iron levels are back to normal. He wants to put the camera lens back on.

4. Evan is filming something at church so he can't drive Carlin and Layla to dance. Kelly takes them instead. 

5. Commercial for something they are drinking for better sleep. I still think it is not great if Carlin, who remains undiagnosed, is using such products that could interfere with medication, etc. I hope she mentions it to doctors if it is more than just a fake ad. She does say they are not using the CBD options.

6. Carlin and Evan discuss Carlin driving again. They said they are just so busy. She says things are getting back to normal and she feels better. She screwed up Doordash and sent it to their old place. Sounds like Katie is coming back to town. 

7. Layla has been baking cookies with Addallee.

8. Layla starts singing a song about the "three parts of God." Apparently she is channeling her buddist monk or about to throw up prayer hands with the way she sits with her eyes closed and her hands out to the side. 

9. Warden visits and the kids are picking what they want for Christmas from a catalog. When asked Layla points to things other than what she picked.

10.  They want to get a swing set for the kids. 

[Kiki03910]

These people are so fucking boring.

[HereticHick]

Have you see the  Bates Sisters holiday dresses that look like bathrobes?  

[rebeccawriter01]

20 minutes ago, HereticHick said:

Have you see the  Bates Sisters holiday dresses that look like bathrobes?  

One of Carlin's videos with them uses the theme from Sex and the City. I have some adjectives for those, but they aren't really SATC vibes.

[JermajestyDuggar]

31 minutes ago, HereticHick said:

Have you see the  Bates Sisters holiday dresses that look like bathrobes?  

They do look like bath robes. I guess the biggest positive is that they must be comfortable. 

[FiveAcres]

I'd say they look more like shrouds.

[Keys]

I’m someone who likes getting dressed up for more formal events. But I’m trying to think of a situation where I’d wear that dress and I can’t, lol. It’s too heavy-looking. 

[marmalade]

I'm sorry, but those dresses are straight up hiddy. Carlin is swimming in hers. 

[HereticHick]

17 hours ago, FiveAcres said:

I'd say they look more like shrouds.

If they sold them in white, you could put on wings and a tinsel halo & boom! ready for your church's drive thru nativity scene.

[rebeccawriter01]

The tie around the waist is not helping the robe vibe.

[Coconut Flan]

The material has a velour look to it in those photos and that doesn't help any either.  They seem to be an all around miss.

Edited November 14, 2023 by Coconut Flan

[Expectopatronus]

If the fabric was different ie) more satiny, it might help. As it is, they are ghastly and I can’t imagine anyone wearing one.

[Maggie Mae]

They don't seem to fit well. I know it's a trendy look, but I hate it. On everyone. 

The fabric looks like the kind of thing where you will SMELL at the end of a night. 

[SoSoNosy]

Carlin looks pregnant in hers.

[HereticHick]

[sndral]

@HereticHick in the Who Wore it Better poll I vote for the lady w/ the rainbow wings 😆.

[HereticHick]

1 hour ago, sndral said:

@HereticHick in the Who Wore it Better poll I vote for the lady w/ the rainbow wings 😆.

I believe that is the Archangel Gabriel! 😄

Edited November 16, 2023 by HereticHick

[JDuggs]

This ad popped up for me on Facebook. I guess I spent too much time looking at Carlin’s dress.

Spoiler

 

[postscript]

New video up. This one is more palatable than usual, largely because Evan spends less time inserting his face in the camera. We begin at the boutique, where Carlin, Katie and Whitney are shooting a promo. Then Carlin tells us how much she likes shopping at the boutique (no shit, Carlin. You don’t have to pay for it). She picks out an oversized electric blue puffer vest, which we see her wearing later in the video. Katie has also snagged a bunch of clothes. They tease her about needing an extra suitcase to take everything home.

Then they’re on their way to Walmart. Carlin replaces Zane’s shoes and socks, which he likes to remove in the car. They tell us they are starting a new tradition, in which they fill boxes with toys and small items to be given to kids in Mexico. They want Layla and Zade to help pick out the toys. Explaining this to Layla initially doesn’t go well. She thinks she will get all the same stuff, and suggests some extravagant gifts. Luckily, the agency has sent lists. They go through Walmart, and Layla enthusiastically picks out necklaces and headbands. Carlin actually does a good job steering Layla toward more practical items and explaining over and over that Layla will get plenty of toys for Christmas, so these are for the other little girl. Layla gradually grasps this, but still suggests that they return to buy her a necklace tomorrow. 

Then they buy a Christmas tree and put on the lights. Layla is cute, wandering through the trees and expressing firm opinions on which ones she likes and doesn’t like. She is wearing a Snow White dress.

Now it’s time to pack the boxes for the kids in Mexico. They have to explain to Layla all over again. She is now wearing a Belle dress. Zade has gotten into one of the boxes of crayons they bought for the boxes. Carlin stuffs the crayons back into the box and includes it anyway, which looks a bit shabby. Layla throws stuff into the girl’s box, which Evan and Carlin pack more neatly. Carlin has bought a princess headband and wand as a surprise for Layla for being so good about this. I’m not sure this is a good precedent to set, but yeah, she’s three and she’s struggling with the concept of giving toys away. Zade, on the other hand, is playing with one of the balls they bought. They accidentally bought two, so they’re allowing him to keep it. However, he brings it to Carlin and insists on putting it in the box, which is very cute. 

I don’t care for the implied US white Christian superiority, but i actually like them starting this tradition (though it isn’t “life changing,” as their clickbaity headline suggests). These kids must get inundated with toys at Christmas. It will probably go better in a year or two, when the kids are old enough to understand. 

[Tdoc72]

1 hour ago, postscript said:

 

I don’t care for the implied US white Christian superiority, but i actually like them starting this tradition (though it isn’t “life changing,” as their clickbaity headline suggests). These kids must get inundated with toys at Christmas. It will probably go better in a year or two, when the kids are old enough to understand. 

It is a good thing to do, even if Layla doesn’t get it this year. I always tried to go with my kids and get some things for donation. 
But yes, they get a lot. Did you see the stuff Kelly brought over, just on a random day?  It was at least 6-7 things for Layla (I’m sure Zade and visiting Hailey got stuff too).  It was a lot of stuff that Kelly could’ve just saved for Xmas. Maybe give her 1 small prize. I know Grandmas can be spoilers but geez. How are she & Gill not broke if she’s buying this stuff for all the grandchildren?  

[Cupcake79]

11 hours ago, Tdoc72 said:
But yes, they get a lot. Did you see the stuff Kelly brought over, just on a random day?  It was at least 6-7 things for Layla (I’m sure Zade and visiting Hailey got stuff too).  It was a lot of stuff that Kelly could’ve just saved for Xmas. Maybe give her 1 small prize. I know Grandmas can be spoilers but geez. How are she & Gill not broke if she’s buying this stuff for all the grandchildren?  

I saw it and I was like, what the heck is she doing, when she pulled out thing after thing. If it was my kid I would have afterwards told my mother that one or maybe two things is enough next time. Although, my mom would never spoil our kids like that. 

[Melissa1977]

14 hours ago, Tdoc72 said:

I know Grandmas can be spoilers but geez. How are she & Gill not broke if she’s buying this stuff for all the grandchildren?

She used to buy nothing for her children. They even experienced actual food shortage. She spoiled Jeb and Judson but I'm sure they were the only kids to have brand new toys, basically thanks to TV money. I think Kelly enjoys shopping and now she is doing what she couldn't do for decades. Maybe the compulsive shopping of some Bates daughters is tied to former poverty and a mother who expressed frustration because of it.

[rebeccawriter01]

The organization that Carlin and Evan were buying for is one of the worst - run by Billy Graham's son. I guess it is the thought that counts. Layla and certainly Zade are too young to understand. It might have gone better for them to use the technique of bagging up old toys to "give away" rather than shopping for new at that age. Of course Layla, who has been given catalogs and circulars to pick out her own gifts, is going to be confused at the idea of buying for someone else she doesn't know. It would even be better to teach her about buying for others by taking her to buy for Zach and Whitney's kids or Hailey. I can remember going with my dad to buy a gift for mom and having to be steered away from picking out stuff for me. I also struggled with keeping it a secret.

Kelly is certainly different from OG Kelly Jo on the show. This is a woman who certainly threw presents to Bradley on his first birthday. However, those were all from a thrift store versus now buying random crap that is a brand name at her 2,268 grandchildren. Goes to show how fake the show was in the first place. They went on and on with the show about how Girl and Kelly could not stand being separated. Now you rarely see them together. They even flew separately to Jackson's wedding and back again. I'm aware it takes some divide and conquer with that many children. However, it is just a stark contrast.

[rebeccawriter01]

3 hours ago, Melissa1977 said:

She used to buy nothing for her children. They even experienced actual food shortage. She spoiled Jeb and Judson but I'm sure they were the only kids to have brand new toys, basically thanks to TV money. I think Kelly enjoys shopping and now she is doing what she couldn't do for decades. Maybe the compulsive shopping of some Bates daughters is tied to former poverty and a mother who expressed frustration because of it.

My mother grew up quite food insecure and as the oldest of a large group of children. She didn't buy much in terms of toys or gifts. However, she bought and ate food to excess. She also bought and kept clothes like nobody I have ever seen. The home she and my father shared had two walk in closets in the main bedroom and two more closets with the spare bedrooms. All but one wall were filled with her clothing. A large cedar armoire that belonged to my grandaunt was also filled with clothes, as were multiple plastic tubs. 

I think that the older children (now adults) in the Bates family (from about Josie/Katie on up) are certainly influenced by the lack of material items or even personal ownership. While some of them (Erin/Tori) like to recreate parts of their own childhood for their families, I don't see the same exact mimicking that you see with some of the older Duggars. For example, I saw that Jessa is doing the family closet idea in their laundry room that was the standard in both the Duggar and Bates homes. She did say as the kids got older that could change. Erin's kids share toys and have fewer personal items for play (or in terms of the girls less personal space). One small toybox in the girls room (maybe some storage behind the bookshelf doors but at least one of those is school related). I'm all for minimal clutter but dang. 

I think Kelly tries to compensate now as a grandmother. Maybe it is being in direct competition to other grandmothers who have fewer offspring and grandchildren? She seems very big on having the biggest gift in the room or the most even if it isn't quality.