Meet Gil Bateses brother Greg

[tabitha2]

That is Greg Bates,his brother,and family.

 

http://bumpinalongtheroadlesstraveledDOTblogspot.com/

 

Also,for those of you wondering about Gills and Kellys families heres a little info.

 

 

Quote

Gil is the oldest of three. His siblings are Greg and Jeni (Jeni was not able to make it this year). His parents are Papa Bill and Mama Jane. I am the baby of four. My first set of siblings are Chip, Kay, and Kim. Later my mother remarried and I have three step brothers: Trip, Ty, and Lee. After we had all long married and moved away, Mom adopted my second set of siblings as precious tiny babies: Beth and Beka (Of course, they’ve grown up now!). My father passed away. We call my mother Meema. Love, Kelly

 

[marmalade]

And we have the Duggars to thank for the Bateses' matching Prairie dresses. Here's an excerpt from Kelly replying to a post on her blog:

I can only sew straight lines (like for simple curtains). When Michaella was 9 or 10, I was having a hard time finding cute dresses and we all wanted to match. We would see the Duggars at conferences in matching dresses so I spoke with Michelle about wanting to learn to sew. She suggested teaching Michaella and Erin. Not being able to sew myself, I thought surely they were too young to learn, but Michelle assured me they weren’t and told me she had taught Janna.

It figures Michelle passed this off to Jana, who I believe is a tad YOUNGER than Michaella (everytime I see her name, it's spelled differently), which means she was sewing when she was EIGHT. And I don't believe for a second that MICHELLE taught her anything. I doubt that princess has SEWN (it's not "sewed," Kelly) a stitch on a machine in her life. I'm betting GRANDMA taught Jana how to sew. But anyway, there you have the genesis of the horrific matchy-matchy dresses.

[kb2]

And we have the Duggars to thank for the Bateses' matching Prairie dresses. Here's an excerpt from Kelly replying to a post on her blog:

It figures Michelle passed this off to Jana, who I believe is a tad YOUNGER than Michaella (everytime I see her name, it's spelled differently), which means she was sewing when she was EIGHT. And I don't believe for a second that MICHELLE taught her anything. I doubt that princess has SEWN (it's not "sewed," Kelly) a stitch on a machine in her life. I'm betting GRANDMA taught Jana how to sew. But anyway, there you have the genesis of the horrific matchy-matchy dresses.

9 or 10 sounds like a good age to learn to sew. (I used to cross-stitch back then, anyway.) It does not sound like a good age to be put in charge of clothing your entire family.

[FloraDoraDolly]

That is Greg Bates,his brother,and family.

http://bumpinalongtheroadlesstraveledDOTblogspot.com/

They look like a nice, middle-of-the-road family. They homeschool, but otherwise I see four kids who have the same clothes, toys, and pop culture stuff that the public school kids have.

[ladypuglover]

And we have the Duggars to thank for the Bateses' matching Prairie dresses. Here's an excerpt from Kelly replying to a post on her blog:

It figures Michelle passed this off to Jana, who I believe is a tad YOUNGER than Michaella (everytime I see her name, it's spelled differently), which means she was sewing when she was EIGHT. And I don't believe for a second that MICHELLE taught her anything. I doubt that princess has SEWN (it's not "sewed," Kelly) a stitch on a machine in her life. I'm betting GRANDMA taught Jana how to sew. But anyway, there you have the genesis of the horrific matchy-matchy dresses.

I'm not argueing that Michelle didn't teach Jana how to sew but it is possible that someone did. I met a 6 year old this summer/spring who makes all her own summer dresses. She was wearing one dress and it looked very complex and very well made. Some people are very quick lerners and at a very early age.

[ladypuglover]

Oh my! Kelly looks like she is in her second trimester in those pics, I wonder if she is pregnant and not talking after the last miscarriage?

By the way, great find, who ever is the photograper does amazing work. How did you come across this blog?

[camdendayton]

The link was on the Bates blog:

gilbatesfamily.com/2011/07/07/july-4th-part-2/

the last picture's watermark.

[Sola]

And we have the Duggars to thank for the Bateses' matching Prairie dresses. Here's an excerpt from Kelly replying to a post on her blog:

It figures Michelle passed this off to Jana, who I believe is a tad YOUNGER than Michaella (everytime I see her name, it's spelled differently), which means she was sewing when she was EIGHT. And I don't believe for a second that MICHELLE taught her anything. I doubt that princess has SEWN (it's not "sewed," Kelly) a stitch on a machine in her life. I'm betting GRANDMA taught Jana how to sew. But anyway, there you have the genesis of the horrific matchy-matchy dresses.

I learned to sew when I was 9. OK not full outfits but simple elasticated skirts for my dolls. I was 11 when I first sewed an outfit for myself. It was a suit (skirt and jacket) in a gawdawful pale blue floral. I was so proud of it, but looking back it must have been horrendous!

My daughter is 10 and I'm teaching her to sew, so far she has only made a few dolls clothes though.

[zcccrv]

To be a little mean- I know no one looks good while eating but this is hilarious.

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[moreorlessnu]

Michaela has some mad sewing skills. There's a lot of detail put into those dresses. This is a common theme in her other dresses, along with mixing and matching different fabric prints. I could see this being her trademark look if she were ever to start a business making dresses for little girls.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

I could sew at that age--and real clothing, too. My Mom taught me--she loves to sew and shared her passion with me. Naturally I hated it.But, I CAN make clothing that is wearable if I ever want to, can mend clothes, sew on scout badges, make Halloween costumes, etc. Saves $$

People today view kids as something who must first get thru college before learning anything useful. Parents are so SCARED of everything. That's totally wrong. It's perfectly safe to teach kids to do stuff properly--it's making it "play" that makes it dangerous. My mom DELIBERATELY got her finger stuck with the needle so I saw what not to do. She stayed with me for hours before I was confident. Same with cooking--my nephew could bbq SAFELY at 10. No, he was NOT allowed to do this when no one was home! Kids in my family could clean horse hooves, shovel out stalls, cook, bake, sew, iron, do cross stitch, knit and even simple welding by age 10. It was not to FREE the parents of the duty, but to encourage the kids to mature!!

Kids in Scouts and 4-H routinely learn to do stuff at young ages that scare the crap out of are "safety squirrel" parents who love to hover and prevent what won't happen anyway from happening!

[TMS]

I first read Gil Bates as "Bill Gates." I thought, why are they talking about Bill Gates on this msg board??? LOL

[Jessica]

My mom was sewing all her own dresses when she was 5. There's a picture of her from kindergarten in a dress that is SO cute and so well-made you'd think it was store bought or made by someone who'd been sewing their whole life! I wish I had her sewing skills... but hey, I can knit so I'm content. ;)

Is that Zac/Zak/Zach/Zack/Zaque (as with Michaela/Michella/Michelleh, the spelling changes every time, even on the blog!)? I love the way Katie is loooking up at him.

[zcccrv]

Yep, that's Zach/c/k/.... Katie looks worried.

[ladypuglover]

I could sew at that age--and real clothing, too. My Mom taught me--she loves to sew and shared her passion with me. Naturally I hated it.But, I CAN make clothing that is wearable if I ever want to, can mend clothes, sew on scout badges, make Halloween costumes, etc. Saves $$

People today view kids as something who must first get thru college before learning anything useful. Parents are so SCARED of everything. That's totally wrong. It's perfectly safe to teach kids to do stuff properly--it's making it "play" that makes it dangerous. My mom DELIBERATELY got her finger stuck with the needle so I saw what not to do. She stayed with me for hours before I was confident. Same with cooking--my nephew could bbq SAFELY at 10. No, he was NOT allowed to do this when no one was home! Kids in my family could clean horse hooves, shovel out stalls, cook, bake, sew, iron, do cross stitch, knit and even simple welding by age 10. It was not to FREE the parents of the duty, but to encourage the kids to mature!!

Kids in Scouts and 4-H routinely learn to do stuff at young ages that scare the crap out of are "safety squirrel" parents who love to hover and prevent what won't happen anyway from happening!

I agree that children can learn many skills at a young age depending on the child and teacher. I was making candy and baking by myself by the time I was 7-8 years old with only my mother looking on. I was helping and learning how to many years before that age. My dad made me bake some brownies one day when my mother was in town. Well, he wasn't watching me and my ADD took over after I popped in the oven. The whole thing burnt to a crisp and it was my dad not me who got into trouble. My mother said he was the adult and I wa only 8 and children have to be supervised while doing dangerous tasks. We also let our little ones cook, bake, BBQ, sew, chores with adult supervison until into their teens. Childhood is a good time to learn.

[SamuraiKatz]

I looked closely at the July 4th postings on Bumpin' along the road. Is Kelly expecting again or does she just have that permanently pregnant look because she's had so many children? I'm referring to the July 5th posting...scroll through the pics.

Brother Greg's kids look like they a little more "normal" life.

Samurai Katz

[deelaem]

I looked at the brother's family site. They do just look like typical SC Southern Baptists. Their 4th of July pictures were pretty well done, but a couple of things caught my eye. One, I agree with ladypuglover that Kelly does look pregnant. She may just be waiting to say anything this time until she's sure she's going to hang onto this one. I also saw a child of color in the photos, I wonder what the story on her is.

[ChunkyBarbie]

I love the little girl's dresses. It is probably a good thing I don't have kids or I would dress them in crazy costumes and outfits for the holidays. Mother/ daughter outfits, oh yeah.

I find Erin's hair rather prideful and defrauding. Secretly, I love it. :shhh:

Edited for typos

[Feberin]

I looked at the brother's family site. They do just look like typical SC Southern Baptists. Their 4th of July pictures were pretty well done, but a couple of things caught my eye. One, I agree with ladypuglover that Kelly does look pregnant. She may just be waiting to say anything this time until she's sure she's going to hang onto this one. I also saw a child of color in the photos, I wonder what the story on her is.

I also thinK Kelly may be pregnant again and just waiting to share the news. It makes sense given her history. While she might always have a bit of a belly it looked like more to me. The little girl of color is probably the daughter of Kelly's adopted sisters. There were pictures of them back around Thanksgiving.