RebeccatheWriter

They apparently rented (bartered for publicity?) a five? bedroom house on the beach. God forbid they have a reasonable space and spend some time alone. I wonder if they actually can have a conversation with each other that isn't on camera.

I agree. I don't consider that material to be influencing at all. I was referring more to the meal prep kits, vitamins, hair/beauty stuff, MixTiles, etc. I don't appreciate the child exploitation. That said, I have an influencer friend. She has two accounts, one of which is private for family and friends. She'll have the occasional picture of her daughter on that. However, her public and forward facing page about products is child free. If she is talking about children's clothing or items (rare), she photographs them but not with her daughter in them. She has turned down deals that require pics or video of any children. It has worked well for her though she does get creepy messages asking to see her child.

I think the influencing provides that life more than the boutique. The boutique has some pretty big red flags that it is not as well backed as it should and could be. It's not the instant bankruptcy I anticipated but it isn't keeping them in Teslas, new houses, etc. I would also say they probably have very little liquidity in the business.

They are always so behind on buying and putting out their social media for the clothing. They did the photo shoot for easter dresses 2ish weeks before the holiday. Admittedly I don't celebrate that hospital but I did, I doubt I would order a dress online for it that close to the holiday. My mother worked in the visual merchandising business for clothing retailers. She would tell you that if you are buying summer merch now as a retailer, you're getting the left over stuff nobody else wanted. They should already know their summer inventory and have it in hand by March.

I think there is some fall out still from the boutique. When Erin began stepping back (way before it was announced publicly), you had both Whitney and Carlin buying houses with their husbands - a first time home buy for Carlin and Evan. Zade was born in the midst of this and Erin was probably paying off some massive debt with how many surgeries she had and how sick she had been. My hypothesis is: Erin chooses to leave the business for whatever reason. She is taking Chad with her who did much of the grunt work and even some technical stuff with their computers and website. It's not like a ball game where they just walk away, they probably wanted to be bought out of their investment. The business is probably not very liquid. They have too much inventory. They upsized their location to go from rent free to commercial rent. They were and are traveling for shows to "meet with designers" a/k/a buying stuff off the rack to sell. And I doubt Whitney/Zach or Carlin/Evan had any cash to put in to make a buy out happen. That would explain why it took months from Erin stopping with the modeling and posting to the announcement. My guess is that other sisters were approached but they either didn't have the cash or didn't have the interest. That's when Kelly stepped in and suddenly she is a silent partner type dealing with the plus sizes. Kelly infused money into the business on the short term (note she's not doing anything there now) and Erin gets a payday for selling her part of the business. However, with as long as it took and the negotiation going on, I think there are and were hurt feelings and mismatched expectations. The question is did Whitney and Carlin learn anything? A business isn't a hobby or activity. Just like you need to prep yourself for the end of your marriage when you are still planning your wedding (life insurance, prenup, etc.), you have to prepare for the end of your business when you lay the groundwork. I would bet they had no business contract between the three of them. It turned out to be Erin getting out before the others, but it could have played differently. Whitney could have gotten annoyed with the business being in her house and then backyard. Who wants to give up personal space like that? Who wants your sisters-in-law and random church help wandering through your house, using your bathroom, putting their lunch in your refrigerator or searching it for a snack? It would get old quickly.

In Alyssa's defense on the gift thing - Carlin and Evan were sans car. John and Evan went to set up the location in John's car and Alyssa was getting the girls ready and about to head over to finish prepping the room (how much prep?) when Carlin jumped in with forgetting the gifts. I would have told her never mind too, as Carlin's going to have to take a 30-45 minute side trip at least to pick up gifts, then cards, then gift bags. Alyssa's kids would end up late for their own party and it would have eaten into prayer time. Carlin could have summoned an Uber and taken Layla to buy gifts, but didn't. Allie is begging for attention. I hate to break it to Alyssa, but it won't always been in such a sweet and pleading way to you. Teenagers begging for attention tend to not be as pleasant. Maybe I have missed it but Alyssa seems to be posting thank you to Carlin (and Evan) for coming, but not even mentioning Erin. I have family I don't like either, but I try to be nice in passing out the thank yous.

I think they did buy pizza. There was a slice of pizza next to Carlin's photo of the agenda. But it was still pathetic looking.

I was unpacking some boxes from a not so recent move and it dawned on me. None of these fundies have many books. Sure there are tablet readers (I have mine) but I also have multiple bookcases and more books than could fit. Erin probably has the most and she turns them spine side back or confesses she buys based on color not content to decorate her children's rooms.

He had the Alyssa version of a party. He had a smash cake, photoshoot with a balloon arch and painted backdrop, and presents. John's parents and a few others came over for it. I thought it was lowkey until I saw the combined party for the girls was basically the same thing except with princess dresses instead of baseballs.

It was sad looking on that schedule. They had 15 minutes for eating? And that included praying? I hope that was a quick prayer. What happened to princess storytime or games? One ticket for a photo. One ticket for a balloon animal. Goodie bag and go home. I get that it is hard to find activities to include for a 3/4 year old to a 9 year old, but that's the reason you don't do one party for every single girl in the family. The girls were taken to shop for presents for Rhett that Alyssa specifically said she and John would fund. Did they each get a gift "from" their brother?

She was licensed as an agent and on the Bailey real estate site for a while. Before that, Mrs. Bailey (the co-owner) was featured on the show to take Kelly, Kelly's mom, and various random children househunting. Kelly greeted her like an old friend and pretended they had discussed this whole thing about Kelly's mom. However, clearly this was all new news to this woman. She was showing a woman in her late 70s early 80s and a disabled husband, homes that had no main floor bathroom and had all the bedrooms upstairs. My guess is that the show found her and the agency for a few stories.

I don't mean that they came up with it as much as she was probably saying she was interested in it or thinking about it and they ran with it. The dates don't quite add up. Apparently, she was filming stuff where she met her boss several months before she passed in real life. I don't remember, but I don't think she passed the broker-level test or even took it.

Whitney had a license at one point. However, according to public records it expired a few years ago. I think she only had it for a plot point on the show. She only had one listing at the firm where she was at and that never did sell.

Per the experts in immigration and education that I spoke to this week, the Romeikes are considered undocumented. Their petition for asylum didn't fall in their favor. Deferment doesn't mean they are magically legally able to become citizens. It is a term to refer to a delayed decision to deport. They still fall into the broader undocumented category that isn't just inclusive of one kind of situation. Their deferred status only means that since that status started they did not accrue, if you will, additional violations.

So I think Daniel Webster has been called. However, if he has intentions of running again (haven't heard he is retiring yet), he's probably hesitant. Florida is extremely anti-immigrant at the moment. While he loves some homeschool legislation, he's probably hesitant to take this on without opening a can of worms. I have a feeling someone from the House of Representatives and/or Senate will eventually make at least a performative effort. However, it is going to take a brave or stupid person to risk their political career over this. I can think of plenty of other cases that are more telling of a broken system than the Romeikes. There is a lot of publicity with Dreamers and DACA. A federal judge recently ruled that DACA isn't legal and that President Obama overstepped in providing that. The judge did not say it had to end though. There is a lot of confusion around it and people are scrambling. The Romeike children (not the parents) appear to have qualified for such status, but like other statuses, they aren't eligible for citizenship through it because no such path exists. Rule of thumb on immigration is that you apply in your home country and wait. Unless you are in mortal danger, you don't show up uninvited. I say this because Republicans (for the most part) are not in favor of DACA. To provide DACA sorts of protections to the Romeike young adults would be basically signaling that they are okay with DACA sort of benefits. If a legislator acted on behalf of the Romeike family publically but still voted against such immigration reforms, he or she would clearly be signaling that only white/European/Protestant people are deserving. It would be saying the quiet part aloud. I grew up in an area that was very much against immigration (from the Southern Border) and hates the idea of Dreamers/DACA status. Recently I moved to a more tolerant area. For example, the area I grew up in arrested a Dreamer (a college student who was brought to the US at 2 months old) for running a stop sign and wanted to deport her. Where I live and work now, legislators attending the State of the Union Address have invited DACA status undocumented people to attend with them. So my understanding is that the annual visits the Romeikes had with immigration officials got them work permits (Form I-766) and driving privileges. Lydia has said in past Q&As and other places that she has a driver's license (so she can fly domestically) but that she does not have a passport or other documents to allow her to travel to another country. She said she was eager to get that because she wanted to take Trace to Germany to visit and see where she was born. TSA will consider any of the following as ID to fly: State photo identity card State driver’s license Military ID Foreign passport (must be unexpired1) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service Employment Authorization Card Trusted traveler cards such as the NEXUS, SENTRI and FAST cards issued by the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) Border-crossing cards Native American tribal ID cards Airline or airport photo ID cards issued in compliance with TSA regulations and transportation worker ID credential I know a lot of us are curious as to why now. The clue does appear to be that the last of the German-born children is now 18. Deferment of Action is essentially a humanitarian effort for those who are undocumented. An example could include caring for a sick relative after your visa has run out. In this case, they were able to homeschool their children. Now that said child is 18, there is nobody left on the petition because the youngest two would not qualify for that sort of petition as US citizens already. They have the two US-born children who are still school age and could perhaps petition on behalf of the parents to keep living with their daughters in the US. However, I'm not seeing how Lydia and all her siblings would be needed to homeschool two young girls.