Kelly and Liz reconnect in person after over a year and share personal stories about their lives, including Kelly's new puppy, Indiana Jones (Indy), and the emotional journey of getting a dog again after losing their previous pets. They discuss the challenges and joys of puppy parenting, memorable phone number mnemonics, and the dynamics of naming pets and kids. The episode blends heartfelt moments with lighthearted anecdotes about family, pets, and everyday chaos.
It was a BIG weekend for both Kelly and Lizz. First off, yes, there is a new addition to the St. John household. Lizz got a puppy! Now you might be thinking: why get a puppy while pregnant? She explains the whole story behind getting the new puppy and why this is actually the perfect time, even if she has to have a good cry every once in a while.
Kelly's big weekend started with her FINALLY purchasing the Fisher Price dollhouse of her dreams. It cost $500, but it's an investment! This is something she plans on having her grandchildren play with. Then, it was off to another dinner auction! Is Kelly more of a silent or live auction girl? Turns out, she can't really decide.
In Industry News, Volkswagen is releasing its redesigned Atlas and somehow hasn't invited the Car Mom to check it out. How rude! Finally, in Ditch The Drive-Thru it's all about the chuck roast. Oh, and a check-in on Kelly's sugar-free journey.
"...og, Maddie and I had together, we named him Texas Ranger. So we decided we'd call them Tex."
The Ford Ranger is a smaller pickup truck that people use for carrying things and going off-road. It's strong and good for many jobs, and some people give their trucks fun nicknames like 'Texas Ranger.'
The Ford Ranger is a midsize pickup truck known for its versatility and ruggedness. It's popular for both work and recreational use, often appreciated for its balance of capability and maneuverability. The mention of 'Texas Ranger' likely plays on the truck's tough, all-American image.
"So all that being said, she has a Kia Sportage. Yeah. So yeah. It's a 2015 Kia Sportage, 180,000 miles on it. We've had literally no problems with it."
The Kia Sportage is a small SUV that many people use because it is reliable and lasts a long time. The 2015 version is a popular choice for families and daily driving.
The Kia Sportage is a compact SUV known for its reliability and practicality. The 2015 model is part of the third generation, offering a good balance of features and value, often praised for its durability especially with high mileage.
"It was like a one owner. It was it was honestly a great car. It's been a great car for her."
When a car is called 'one owner,' it means only one person has owned it before. This usually means the car was taken care of better and is less likely to have problems.
A 'one owner' car means the vehicle has only had a single previous owner since it was new. This is often seen as a positive factor because it can indicate better maintenance and less wear from multiple drivers.
""But it's a, it's an investment. Like some women invest in like purses that retain value, not I.""
An investment means buying something like a car or toy that might be worth more money later on, so you don't just use it but keep it safe.
In automotive context, an investment refers to purchasing a vehicle or collectible that is expected to retain or increase in value over time, often due to rarity, condition, or historical significance.
Mint condition means something is like brand new, with no damage or wear, which makes it very valuable to collectors.
Mint condition describes an item, such as a car or collectible, that is in perfect or like-new state, often highly desirable for collectors and increasing its value.
Car
Voltwagon Alice
"So Voltwagon is having a private reveal of the Voltwagon Alice, the New York auto show of which we are already attending the New York auto show"
The Voltwagon Alice is a new electric car shown at a big car event called the New York Auto Show. It's made by a company named Voltwagon, which focuses on electric vehicles.
The Voltwagon Alice is an electric vehicle model from the brand Voltwagon, which is a play on Volkswagen but focuses on electric cars. It was revealed privately at the New York Auto Show.
"...t think it's going to be as dramatic as like the Palisade and the Telluride reveals. Yeah, I agree."
The Hyundai Palisade is a big family car that can fit lots of people and has a nice, comfortable inside. It's popular because it has many features but doesn't cost too much. People often compare it to other similar cars when new versions come out.
The Hyundai Palisade is a midsize SUV that has gained attention for its upscale interior, spacious seating, and competitive pricing. It often competes with similar models like the Kia Telluride, making its reveal events notable in the automotive world. It's praised for combining value with comfort and technology.
"Yeah, like in the expedition. Yeah. That I feel like we don't see very often in that, in mid-sized cars."
The Ford Expedition is a big SUV that can fit a lot of people. It sometimes has three separate seats in a row, so everyone has their own space to sit.
The Ford Expedition is a full-size SUV known for its spacious interior, including options for three separate seats in the second or third row, enhancing passenger comfort and flexibility.
"Volvo has it, XC90. But yeah, we don't see very often."
The Volvo XC90 is a fancy SUV that has three separate seats in a row, so each person can sit comfortably without being too close to others.
The Volvo XC90 is a mid-size luxury SUV that offers three separate seats in its bench seating configuration, which is less common in mid-sized SUVs and provides more individual passenger comfort.
"Honda Pilot. Honda Pilot. But yeah, we don't see very often."
The Honda Pilot is a medium-sized SUV that can have three separate seats in a row, so everyone has their own space to sit.
The Honda Pilot is a mid-size SUV that sometimes features three separate seats in the second row, offering more comfort and flexibility compared to traditional bench seats.
"And this week, my car is a Grand Highlander, which I'm really excited to be playing with."
The Toyota Grand Highlander is a big SUV that can carry more people and stuff than smaller cars. It uses a hybrid engine to save gas and is known for being dependable.
The Toyota Grand Highlander is a larger SUV variant of the Highlander, offering more space and often equipped with advanced features including hybrid powertrains. It is designed to serve families or those needing extra passenger and cargo capacity while maintaining Toyota's reputation for reliability.
"...k to it. Well, what it is, at least at the Grand Highlander serves a purpose, it's reliable, it has a hybrid"
The Toyota Highlander is a family car that is known for lasting a long time and saving fuel if you get the hybrid version. The bigger Grand Highlander model gives you more room and extra features to make driving easier.
The Toyota Highlander is a midsize SUV well-regarded for its reliability and available hybrid powertrain, making it a practical choice for families. The Grand Highlander variant expands on this with more space and features, continuing Toyota's reputation for dependable and efficient vehicles.
"Well, what it is, at least at the Grand Highlander serves a purpose, it's reliable, it has a hybrid and there are Toyota-only people in this world."
A hybrid car uses both a gas engine and an electric motor to save fuel and pollute less. It can run on electricity sometimes, which helps you use less gas.
A hybrid vehicle combines an internal combustion engine with an electric motor to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. The electric motor assists or sometimes powers the car alone, especially at low speeds or during idling.
Select text to request an explanation
Welcome to the Carpool podcast with Kelly.
Well, I can only think of one.
What's like the only YouTube video you could think of?
That's age appropriate.
Charlie bit my finger.
Charlie bit my finger.
And Liz.
Why did you choose to get a dog right now?
That sounds really hard.
And I did cry last night, really overwhelmed.
And then I woke up today fine.
So I just also think that sometimes you just have to cry
and then you'll be okay.
Your mom time off starts now.
Welcome back to the Carpool podcast with Kelly and Liz.
And we're doing something crazy today.
We are recording in person for the first time in like over a year,
probably definitely over a year.
When we before we both happened to move,
we lived like 12 minutes from each other and had an in studio podcast.
Didn't know how to record virtually.
So could only record in person.
And for the past year and a half,
we've just been doing virtual recordings.
This is so weird to like see you in person and like not have a screen buffering.
I agree.
I like seeing you in full and I like seeing you not pixelated.
Yeah, I know.
It's really refreshing.
Yeah.
Storytime Libby was being so cute yesterday and she was like,
granted she was on the counter because that's her happy place.
Like she prefers to stand on the counter.
Sure.
But I was right next to her and she had my phone and she was being silly like pretending
she was like pretending she was on the phone.
It was so cute.
Before I could register what was happening.
She looked at me, took my phone and threw it as hard as she could on the ground from
the counter.
My phone shattered.
So I've been without a phone in a formal sense for like 24 hours.
Libby Brick too.
Fricked me.
You didn't need to pay for it.
Libby was happy to do the work for you.
No, it's been so.
So like my phone kind of worked.
So like if someone called me, I could answer and like sometimes I could Siri text back
and then I had my laptop that I could text on and then I had my content phone that I
can get on Instagram on.
So I was like walking around my house yesterday with like three devices at all times.
Now you have more devices.
I know.
I know.
So I had to bring up drive up to close to Elizabeth's house to get my phone fixed.
And they were like, what's what number can we call when it's done?
Luckily, the only numbers in the world I have memorized are yours and Tyler's.
Oh, wow.
Okay.
And that made me think of a fun thing that I think I've shown us on the podcast before,
but if you have not taught your kids your phone number in song form.
Now's the time.
May I suggest doing it?
I'm going to sing you not my number.
I'm going to change the numbers, but I'm going to sing it to you.
And this is a song that I taught my kids.
Okay.
Okay.
I got to think of a fake number.
Hold on.
Just use the phone number mom taught us.
No, I want to do mine.
It goes like this three, one, four, two, two, oh, 46 and 62.
That's my mom's cell phone.
Can you call her on the phone?
That is my mom's cell phone.
So I taught them, you know, if you ever get lost, you find a mommy and you sing three,
one, four, two, two, oh, 46 and 62.
Those are my cell phone.
Can you call her on the phone?
That is my mom's cell phone.
And Tyler funny enough also learned my phone number that way.
Oh, perfect.
And George and Hattie would sing that so often that where we used to go to like an in-home
daycare, their kids learned my phone number.
Oh my gosh.
That's funny.
So I didn't have, luckily I just had yours memorized, but this is something that mom
taught us.
Yeah.
Because we used to have 9 0 9 1 6 9 0.
That's my phone number I know.
9 0 9 1 6 9 0 is my phone number I know.
Which also banging phone number.
9 0 9 1 6 9 0.
No, that's a good phone number.
So much a good phone number.
You know, it will be crazy because I have your phone number, mom and dad's phone number
and Maddie's phone number memorized.
It's the only ones that I know.
When my kids get a cell phone, I'm going to have to memorize their phone numbers.
You are.
You are.
Something funny about Tyler's phone number is I'm not going to give all the letters, but
it's something along the last four spell stud.
Oh.
So it's like his area code and then three numbers and then STUD.
And that's because his mom, when she went through his phone number, she like picked that
out for it.
Like it's intentional.
So it's like four, four, seven, eight stud.
Like that's Tyler's phone number.
Call now.
No, no, no, no.
Four to seven, eight stud.
We should bring back more.
Like I wonder if my phone number spells anything.
I never thought about this because we don't use numbers and letters.
No, but it was a good way to do it because like you could argue that would be an easier
way to like remember.
Well, this is true.
I've never thought.
How do I go to?
Oh, you know what?
No, because there's a zero in mine.
So zero does not have anything associated with it.
Well, they should change that.
Yeah.
I'm calling for.
Oh, and neither does one.
Really?
Kelly, you, I love you.
You'll never be able to figure out if your phone number spells anything because you have
to look at four different numbers and they each have three letters.
And then you also have to put words together.
I see what you mean.
Yeah.
I don't look like I spell because you got to have the vowels.
If you don't have the vowels, you don't have anything.
Yeah.
Okay.
Just saying something to consider.
It would be easier to like, so maybe when I take my kids to get their phone number,
even if it doesn't spell anything cool, like it'd be nice if it's spelt something.
Sure.
Yeah.
No, that's a good, that's a good thought.
It's, yeah, that's my, that's my tent will take away of the day.
So anyway, all's to say.
And it actually worked out because you got to come over and meet my new puppy.
Well, that's true, which is so exciting.
I'm absolutely like the way that I don't at all have baby fever based on your pregnancy,
but the way I'm sick.
I know.
With puppy fever right now.
I know.
I think it's hard to avoid puppy fever.
Well, I feel very robbed of the fact that I've never, we got Tommy when George was three
weeks old.
So I've actually never seen my kids with a puppy before.
Oh yeah.
Sure.
You know.
Well, yeah.
And this is my first time seeing my kids with a puppy, but yeah, we kind of have had like
a wild emotional ride with dogs lately.
In 2025, both of our dogs like suddenly and tragically passed at two separate times.
And I'm not going to get into what happened because again, it was like literally so sudden
and tragic.
They were, they were very personal.
And like, I don't want to get into it.
All is to say, we found ourselves without any dogs and we always said we will always
have a dog.
And it was just like really hard to think about getting another dog after what happened.
So I thought we were just going to kind of be like, okay, let's just wait a few years,
wait till our kids are older, get through the baby phase, like we were due in August
with another baby.
Like I thought we were just going to wait.
Maddie and I never had a conversation about it because again, we just like couldn't talk
about dogs.
And about three weeks ago, I make a comment and because I see on TV like a kid opening
a Christmas present and it's a puppy and I'm like, oh, Maddie, when we get another dog,
we should totally do it like on Christmas or something and we'll be like this.
And Maddie goes, no, I know when we're going to get another dog and I'm like, what?
And he's like, yeah, I've actually been in contact with a breeder.
I thinking we're not getting a dog for years and I'm like, what in the world are you talking
about?
Maddie leaves like once a month for the Marine Corps.
So he like hates leaving us here without a dog and he can't sleep well without a dog.
Like whatever, whatever he has PTSD, he doesn't like sleeping like whatever, whatever he's
a veteran.
It's fine.
Whatever.
He's like been to war.
It's a service dog.
Yeah.
He's been to war.
Like whatever.
It's not a big deal.
So he has just, I didn't realize how much he, I've hated not having a dog, but I'm fine.
I did not realize how much he's hated not having a dog.
So he tells me he's decided on the breed and where we went with a red golden retriever
because they are excellent family dogs.
I like fluffy dogs.
I like that coat consistency.
And he found a breeder literally 20 or he found a breeder in Oklahoma.
He's like, they're going to be ready in the fall and I'm like freaking out.
I'm like, we can't get a dog like this is good puppy stage.
Like then they, then they become teenagers like this is going to be too much.
And Maddie's like all lathered up about it.
Then like a week passes and he's like, Hey, just found a breeder 25 minutes from our house.
They have one male left or a male dog family.
We can pick them up in a week.
I'm like, what are you talking about?
And then I'm thinking on it.
I'm realizing that there's no way of getting out of getting a dog.
Like I realized that now this is happening.
Um, and I'm thinking, I'm like, you know what, if we get a dog now,
we've got all summer to potty train, which the summer is the best time to be outside with a dog.
Good point.
I don't have a third baby yet.
Good point.
When my baby is born, I will, we will have to go to that like teenager dog who's got
to burn a lot of energy needs to go on a lot of walks and I will be on maternity leave.
So pending that I'm feeling good from giving birth, that could be a good
reason to like get me out of the house and get me moving.
It's taking a dog on walks and I'll just have more free time because I'll be on mat leave.
Um, so I'm like, maybe all things considered, maybe this is a good time.
So then Maddie tells me, well, perfect because I already have this book to go see them this Friday.
So we go to see the dogs and we all fall in love.
He's the cutest pupper I've ever seen.
Well, that's not true.
I think Aussies are actually cuter puppers, but he's a really cute pupper.
His name is Indiana Jones, Butters, St. John.
Our first dog, Maddie and I had together, we named him Texas Ranger.
So we decided we'd call them Tex.
So we decided we're going to name all of our dogs after states.
So now we have Indy.
And we name all of our dogs after presidents.
So our first dog was James Madison and now we have Thomas Jefferson, aka Tommy.
And we're a boy dog family too.
I feel like you're one or the other.
No, and that's what the breeder was telling me because he has a female and I was curious.
He knows so much about dogs.
I was like, why did you choose a female?
Like our females better?
And he's like, I grew up with females and I'm like, oh, I grew up with males.
He was everyone who comes in, everyone who talks to me about it.
You either grew up with males, you grew up with females.
You're not going there being like, I don't know which one.
Like, you know, if you want to wear a girl dog, which I have, I mean,
I literally have no experience with a girl dog, like no idea.
I know I have no idea either.
We're such a boy dog family.
Yeah, Indy's such a cute name.
Thank you.
So glad you got one thing named this year.
Yeah, we knew the dog, we knew the dog.
We did have the dog name secured.
So now I feel like we need to take that into consideration
when thinking about the kid's name.
I know everyone was so helpful though.
You got some incredible racks.
I know.
Now I just need to sit with them all.
There was one that I actually loved and Maddie shot down immediately.
Well, there's people like writing for like,
everyone wants to try again with the Blair and the Gwen.
Like, what can we do to try to convince?
Because people actually feel like those are the names.
And it's a matter of like, how do we get it past Maddie?
I don't know.
I think Gwen is out.
I think his reasoning for not liking Gwen is more hard to change
than him just not liking Blair from Gossip Girl.
Oh, it was the Gwen the Welsh thing?
The Welsh thing.
I think he's just like stuck on that.
And I was thinking about it because he was saying
like he's Hans is a male example.
And I'm like, it made me think of Frozen.
And I'm like, yeah, like I could never have like a crystal for Sven.
Like you couldn't name your kids that.
But Gwen does not fall under that category.
Well, of course.
I do think there's, I think we can make headway on Blair.
I don't know.
But we can see what I don't know.
But you don't know.
I don't know.
You don't know.
Yeah, I don't know.
I see I hate talking about it because I am.
I know.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I don't know what to say.
But I just want to say don't stop sending the names
because I'm really enjoying looking at them.
Our mom's really enjoying looking at them.
She's like constantly sending them to us.
So we're having fun.
And I think we're just like really building the anticipation
to see what you're going to name her.
I think we're all on the edge of our seats.
It's kind of going like so fast for me.
You're almost at the halfway mark.
I know.
I actually woke up today.
The last two days I woke up and I felt a lot less nauseous.
Then I had and I had a pot coffee this morning.
That's amazing.
That's such a sign.
I haven't had that for months.
It's been so exciting.
I haven't door dashed once today.
Wow.
I've just been eating the food I have in my fridge.
Wow.
So you could say I am trending up.
I'd say you're over the hump.
I would say so.
Which is so funny because literally last week I'm like,
I will never be on butter.
I'm going to feel like this for the rest of my life.
LOL.
When you're in it, you're just like,
always the reminder, whether you're sick or pregnant or whatever,
like when you feel not 100%, you're like,
I will never take it for granted.
I will never take it.
I know.
And then you do.
I know the funniest reel came across my desk
and it was just like this girl being like,
Hey, does your throat hurt?
No.
Recognize this feeling.
I'm like, you're right.
My throat doesn't hurt.
Thank you.
I needed that.
I know.
I needed that.
Well, anyway, speaking of things that kind of popped,
like last episode was so good.
Kind of the pressure to top.
We were just like baby names.
Like I dropped a huge bomb that I had been keeping a secret
from like everybody for like over a year.
Like first of all, good to know I can do that.
I know.
Yeah.
People were, it made me feel good because I feel like there's such a lot.
You just never know on the internet.
Like it's like moms are the most supportive people on the internet
and also sometimes like the worst people on the internet.
And you just never know.
Like childcare is like such a touchy subject.
So you just never know.
But I'm happy that people resonated with your story
and like we're curious to learn more.
And I think the reason maybe you were so scared to talk about
is because I do think that there are a pair of situations
done incorrectly and that do go badly.
You just did everything right
and have a wonderful young girl living with you.
Yeah.
And I think sometimes I get hesitant to,
I just don't always identify as a working mom
because we just work from our phones,
which is like kind of crazy because,
and I'm not like even shooting other influencers,
but like we are so much more than like the quote unquote
like typical influencer.
Like we do so much like BT,
like we do so much more written content
that takes a lot of time.
I mean, we spend hours in front of our computers every day
and like, you know, then we pop on stories
and it looks like we're doing this.
So people don't always see that behind the scenes
of what it takes to run the car mom.
And I just, I don't think that's just for influencers across the board.
I don't think people know what it takes.
People don't always see what it takes.
Yeah, they don't see what it takes.
I don't think that's exclusive to us.
Especially when you're doing it like full-time
and like when you, I mean, we have a team that we manage.
So, but I'll also say none of that matters
because I feel like I still sometimes have trouble identifying
as a working mom.
So I think talking about my child can make me feel like,
oh, like you like, like you're home.
Like you, like you don't deserve that.
You don't deserve to have that kind of childcare.
And that's just like, I mean, that's not,
I shouldn't feel that way, but I do.
And like this week, this coming week on Thursday,
I'm going to speak to like a, like a working mom's luncheon.
And I'm like, why did they want me at this thing?
And like, it's fine.
Like I am a working mom.
Like I get it.
I'm an entrepreneur.
I'm all these things.
But I'm also not a mom who has to leave the house
and clock in from a nine to five every day.
Yeah, it's very different.
It is very different.
So, and I'm not saying like ones, I mean, I'm not,
they're just different.
So I think that's why I was like,
truthfully a little hesitant to share.
No, you're just saying you're living a different experience
than the traditional working mom.
And so then you feel like an imposter on that front.
No, isn't that so fun?
So I feel like I feel like an imposter.
And then you also are an imposter on the stay at home mom
because you're not a stay at home mom.
So basically you can't win anywhere.
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Today's episode is brought to you by Caroway.
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Anyway, I'm still not going to share a lot about it
because it just is a personal experience,
but everyone wants to know what car she has.
Oh, okay.
Which like makes sense.
So she does not drive our kids.
We didn't get one for like a lot of people
like the idea of having a no pair to help with the driving.
And I could see when we have older kids,
I would have prioritized someone
who like had more driving experience.
She didn't have a lot of driving experience
when she got here.
It was honestly like teaching a 16 year old to drive.
So that will come in handy one day,
but she wasn't a good driver.
You guys got her lessons.
We got her great driving lessons.
Like they were such good driving lessons.
She got her driver's license.
She is fine.
Like she's fine.
She can drive now.
But I just don't let her drive the kids.
We also just don't need her to drive the kids.
So all that being said, she has a Kia Sportage.
Yeah.
So yeah.
And it's like so good.
It's a 2015 Kia Sportage, 180,000 miles on it.
We've had literally no problems with it.
Yeah.
Like it's actually because I drive it sometimes
if like Teller needs to take the kids in like my car.
It's like such a good car.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I mean, it's fun when you just don't have that.
It's fun to just go find a fun, a good car on the lot
when you don't have to consider car seats.
Yeah.
We just like we just like when we just bought a used one
from the dealership that like had a really clean shop bill.
I mean, it was like a one owner.
It was it was honestly a great car.
It's been a great car for her.
And I will just say like a few more things
then I'm going to move on from it.
Like the selection process was like very interesting.
And I was very I wanted this to be like such a success.
I wanted this to be a success on both of our ends,
both for the au pair and for our family.
So I did it was I was pretty particular
with like what I was looking for for their sake,
not so much for mine.
And when you like go through one of these agencies,
they do you have like a dedicated contact
who did a really good job of helping us like,
Hey, here's what I think you should look for.
So for example, one of the tips she gave us is she's like,
you have four kids do not get an only child.
Look for an au pair that has a big family
because like they just won't,
they don't know what that is like necessarily.
Even if they have all this childcare experience,
they're not used to living in a house with a lot of people.
So like, okay, that's good tip.
So our au pairs the youngest of four.
Yeah.
Like so she totally like gets that kind of vibe.
And then she also like lives,
she's from like a farming community.
So she like gets the farm.
She gets the rural vibes a little bit more.
I would say the only like, if you can even,
Oh, and I also wanted one of drinking age in this country
because I just like didn't want to deal with that.
Yeah. Yeah.
But, and I, and they want to have to be infant qualified.
And a lot of the au pairs do a good job being like,
I don't want more than two kids.
I only want to live in a city.
So like, I'm not saying we had slim pickings, but like,
we didn't, I mean, there are a lot of people who are like,
yeah, I'm not coming.
No, I mean, because you're also
going to take care of your four kids.
I want to go to New York and take care of two eight year olds.
Right. Exactly.
Which fair.
Yeah. Same.
But ours, she didn't speak very good English at all.
Like that was like seriously no English.
And I'm really happy I didn't let that stop us
because she told me that she,
like her goal was to learn English.
Like I knew that was really important to her.
But like, truthfully, like for the first three months,
we Google translated just about everything to each other.
Yeah. Yeah.
But now even the tech has come so far.
If I ever do it again, we'll get airpods.
And we'll just talk to each other that way.
Yeah. I wonder if that would be a hindrance though,
because a lot of them want to come and like learn English.
Well, sure.
And she came, she said,
my goal is to be able to talk as fast as you,
as fast as Kelly.
And I'm like sister,
no one can talk English as fast as Kelly.
So anyway, but she's worked really hard at it.
And like honestly, her English is incredible now.
Yeah. No, she's come a really long way.
Yeah. Really long way.
So I'm really happy that I didn't let that stop us.
But it was interesting because like I really didn't,
we didn't really have a lot of conversations
in English before she got here.
And it has just been like,
my favorite part about it is I love having a person in my house.
Like it's just, I like having a lot of people around.
Yeah.
And the culture immersion,
it's been for my children is unbelievable.
Like we love hearing about her culture,
the foods that she eats, the language she speaks,
about her family.
We FaceTime with her family a lot.
And then she has nieces and nephews
who are the same age as George and Hattie.
So like they're kind of like pen pals.
Cute.
There was like sharing each other like pictures
of what they're doing.
So like it has been,
if you have a good spot for them in your house,
like I do think the agency
only requires that they have their own bedroom
and they can share a bathroom.
Ours is in our basement
and she has a great bedroom and a great bathroom.
And like I love that we have that separation of space
for both of our sakes.
But if you can do that,
it's just really been like just such,
it's the best experience.
And it's been so helpful,
especially as I travel a lot for work
and all the travel I have coming up,
just to like not have to rely on a grandparent all the time,
just like someone to help Tyler out,
who knows who lives with us,
so knows exactly how we do everything.
So like it doesn't disrupt anybody's schedule.
Yeah.
So yeah.
Feels so good to get that off my chest.
Yeah.
We started the process of looking for an au pair too,
but we were going to have to add a bedroom in our basement,
which was like an additional cost.
And then I was talking to the girl that I loved
and like we met where we talked on the phone like multiple times.
And then we like made her an offer
and she like went with another family.
And I was like gutted
because we had talked so much.
Like I was so lathered up about her.
And I was like, I can't go through this process again.
Like it was really emotionally draining.
And again, I would have to put a basement
and a bathroom in my bedroom or all that stuff in my basement.
The match process sucks.
But the match process was draining.
Yeah, it's very draining.
It's not I'm not.
Yeah, it was not fun.
Yeah.
And it has been so fun to actually hasn't been fun.
It's been very sobering to try to teach somebody English.
Yeah.
Because so many times she will ask me a question
and she'll be like, well, like for example,
she's like, when do you say a lot and when do you say many?
I'm like, I don't know, girl, when it makes sense.
And she's like, you have many snacks.
And I'm like, no, I have a lot of snacks.
She's like, why?
I'm like, yeah, I don't know.
Yeah, no clue.
Like I actually can't.
It sounds right.
I actually can't explain to you when you use the separate ones.
Yeah.
Just like when the vibes are there.
Yeah, just like read the room a little bit about it.
And she's like, when do you use his and when do you use him?
And I'm like, again.
You're like racking your brain on one example of using his versus him.
Yeah, it was hard.
Yeah, that is hard.
Like is it his?
Or is it was it him?
So I guess it's him past tense.
Like I have no idea.
No, yeah, I'd have to like Google it.
No, I'd have to Google it.
It's just been so funny.
We just memorized the rules, I guess.
She's like, you don't know.
And I'm like, I have no idea.
So sorry.
Because like, yeah, no, I don't know.
Don't know.
So it feels good to get off of your chest.
Oh, so this was so funny last night.
180 on the convo.
But so George and Hattie and Fred now have a hyper fixation
of what I did when I was a little girl.
Like they always want to hear,
tell us a story from you were a little girl.
Let's watch a movie from when you were a little girl.
Like they're obsessed with the 90s.
That's why I had to talk about my dollhouse too.
Oh my God.
All right.
I'm just going to buckle up and this is going to be a listening show.
No, no, no, no.
You'll like this.
So they're like, was YouTube around when you were a little girl?
And I'm like, yes, YouTube was around.
They're like, what was your favorite YouTube video?
Oh gosh.
And I was like, I got it.
Well, I can only think of one.
What's like the only YouTube video you could think of?
That's age appropriate.
Charlie bit my finger.
Charlie bit my finger.
Did they think it was funny?
Elizabeth, let me tell you something, stands the test of time.
It is.
My three big kids were belly laughing.
Play it again.
Play it again.
He goes, oh, Charlie, that really hot.
And then the baby Charlie laughs.
Oh my gosh.
Let me just tell you stands the test of time.
Okay, good to know.
I was like, there's no way.
Like with TikTok and Instagram, I'm still going to find this video funny.
I, it was, it's such a fun video.
Okay.
Okay.
Yeah.
Bring those two boys back.
Like, where are they now?
Where are they now?
Interesting.
I wonder if they're on, I bet they've recreated it by now.
And it hasn't come across my desk.
Well, because there's no, you can't make it as good as the original.
Do you think like they're still monetizing on it?
It had like eight, it had like 800 million views.
I have no idea.
Yeah, that's so interesting.
Because I don't know.
Because you could argue like that could just, I don't know how long that could,
I don't know how long you could live off just that one video.
Probably not long.
Okay.
So now let's talk about your dollhouse.
I don't just want this to be a talking show.
So do you want to talk about something?
Me think.
I guess just back on the dog thing, I will say,
because some people were like messaging me like,
why did you choose to get a dog right now?
And that sounds really hard.
And I did cry last night, really overwhelmed.
And then I woke up today fine.
So I just also think that sometimes you just have to cry and then you'll be okay.
Yeah.
No, I like normalize a good cry.
And sometimes you just need to cry.
I cried this morning.
Like sometimes when he's like, what's wrong?
And I'm like, I can just feel a cry of ruin.
And so just I need you to know that I am going to cry tonight.
So just don't, don't worry.
Don't be alarmed.
But it's going, it's going to go down.
Yeah.
I mean, if I think about how much like,
like you feel good after a cry.
You do feel good.
We bottle, we bought, and I also just had had a,
a solo parenting week.
I picked up the dog during my solo parenting weekend.
So you could say my nerves were a little bit fried,
a little bit shot.
Sometimes I just cried.
My son was an angel and very sweet.
He comes out to me and goes, mommy, are you hungry?
You've trained him well.
And I'm like, that's a really good guess.
But in this present moment, no.
Yeah.
So no, that's, that's all I have going on.
I just like got a dog and cried this weekend.
So well, I had kind of a crazy Saturday.
I spent a lot of money on Saturday.
I know you had a dinner auction.
A dinner auction.
And I finally pulled the trigger on the 1993 Love and Family Dreamhouse.
Um, you are, you are kind of like crazy for this.
No, I know.
Okay.
I feel, I feel that I'm fine with being crazy.
I don't want to come across as creepy.
Like I'm not, I'm going to let my kids play with the dollhouse.
It's not for you to play with.
It's not for me to play with.
Yeah.
It's not even for me to collect.
I just want to have it.
That sounds like a collection.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I want my kids to play with it.
And I really firmly believe it's just one of the best made dollhouses ever made.
Like that's just what it comes down to.
I like them better than Barbies.
I like them better than Gabby's dollhouse.
I like them better than like the aesthetic wooden ones.
Like I just like everything about them.
I'm just not sure I've ever seen you spend like $500 on like anything just like flat out.
No, I know.
Like that's so not like me.
Especially toys.
Like you're, I mean, you talk all the time.
You're very bare minimum on your toys.
Oh, and I like love like the way that we do toy rotation is we go to Goodwill,
buy things, take them back to Goodwill, buy something else.
Like that's like my version of toy rotation.
So for me to just like seek something out like this was a really big deal.
And so yeah, I spent $500.
Now it's 42 pieces.
So the dollhouse first of all is in great condition because like I wanted the carpets intact.
Like that was important to me and I wanted like the sticker carpets.
And I wanted some of the beds.
Like that was like what I was really looking for.
Okay.
So five, oh, you said it was 42 pieces?
Yeah.
Comes out to $11 a piece.
Then that includes the house.
So what is that?
So 500 divided by 42 is $11 a piece.
That feels good.
No, I'm telling you that feels good because like if I,
but if I wanted to sell, if times got hard and I had to sell it,
I would just break, I was there to sell it as a giant bundle for like,
I mean, there's some listed for like 900 bucks or I would just start breaking it up for like
$20 a piece.
And like, I think it's $20 a piece all day.
I know the market.
I know the market.
Okay.
I'm so excited about it.
I'm going to let my kids play with it.
And then when my kids have outgrown it, I'm going to take it to the farm
and let it be like the farm toy.
Okay.
And then when all of my siblings kids have outgrown it,
then I'm taking it and putting it in my basement and saving it for my grandchildren.
Okay.
It's going to be like so vintage by then.
Yeah.
But it's a, it's an investment.
Like some women invest in like purses that retain value, not I.
No.
Imagine what it'll be worth by the time you have grandkids.
I know.
I really want to find.
That's your retirement fund.
Totally.
You know how much vintage toys I have?
Clip clop, McDonald's, Little Pikes, Little Tykes Playgarden.
Like I'm ready.
Like that's my retirement fund.
I had a dream about the McDonald's one.
I had a dream that I went to someone's house and they had it brand new mint life size.
It was even bigger than yours.
And it was amazing.
Mint.
Mint.
Crazy.
Mint condition.
So that's what I woke up to and did Saturday morning.
Like I literally was like, I saw it.
I was like, should I do this?
And they made the checkout process a little too easy,
which take note online retailers.
It was like, click to pay with PayPal.
And I'm like, you mean you already have my PayPal?
PayPal is so dangerous for me.
I know.
So I click to pay with PayPal.
Okay.
I haven't regretted it since I've done it.
So that's good.
I'm not having buyers from where it's not even in yet.
No, you're excited about it.
I'm so excited about it.
I mean, how do you're going to do an unboxing?
Okay, perfect.
And then that night that evening, we went to another grade school dinner auction.
Last one, Triple Crown.
So it's ours.
And then my two sister-in-laws and this one was actually so fun.
The silent auction items were it.
I really like to judge a dinner auction on what ratio they do.
They're silent to their live auction items.
And I'm always judging like what they decided to put on a live.
And like if I think they could have gotten more on the silent in vice versa.
Because for me, I prefer the silent.
I don't always want the attention of like I'm raising my paddle
and then I don't want people to know that I lost.
Like I actually find that to be embarrassing.
Okay.
Yeah.
I don't think I've never partook in a live auction.
It takes a lot for someone to raise a paddle.
Now, some of the big items of course should be on there.
But like when it goes for like, I get crazy on the silent.
Yeah.
I mean, I'm not scared of a silent.
So I mean, you'll pay $500 for a vintage.
And like that's just because they had your paypal.
Imagine if you didn't even have to raise a paddle.
Oh, I just direct onto my number.
In the money field.
Well, maybe that's why they do the paddle though.
Maybe that's easy for people though.
There's like whatever they're getting they key to the moment.
Yeah, but then it's like eyes on you.
And then you have to do the whole hub of blue and the guy's like,
come on, come on, 15 more, 15 more.
And you're like, no, I'm out, I'm out.
He can get, like that's so embarrassing though.
No, I know.
Like I'm telling, I find it embarrassing.
Okay.
So you wouldn't, that wouldn't, no, I know you.
If someone's like, come on, come on, you're not going to say,
this is embarrassing.
I'm, I'm out.
No, I'm going to win.
You're going to the end.
I'm going to the end.
I know that's why they do it, Kelly.
For suckers like you.
I know, I know.
It's so bad.
So that's why you personally need to stay in the silent world.
So I like the silent world.
Now, those one that I was at, normally I'm like,
like a lot of the times if it's like not a basket, I want,
but like I want to make a donation.
I'll like buy a basket I'm not super passionate about.
And I, I'll just literally save it and give it to like another
dinner auction.
Got idea.
Cause it's like, I'm just here to, you know,
but this one, I was like, I want these baskets.
So I ended up walking with three baskets,
but I lost one item that has been haunting me.
It sucks to lose an item at an auction.
Well, it's ridiculous.
And I honestly got robbed.
This is why silent auctions are not good.
Okay.
So we're back to the live auctions being better.
They said the pink table is closing in one minute.
I run to the pink table where this beautiful,
hand-done quilt was it?
Quilt was.
It was stunning.
It would have gone with the girl's room perfectly
with their little flower rug.
Like it was the right pastel colors.
I was like, this is going to be Hattie's new quilt.
Like I'm lathered up.
I was at 105 bucks for a hand quilt for a homemade quilt.
I go to it.
It's one minute.
I have the bid walk away to get a water.
Number 47 bumped me by five bucks.
Oh, that sucks.
Had I known?
You would have gone to 150.
Easily.
Yeah.
No, I was going to walk away with it.
Yeah.
And this is what I like to do at dinner auctions.
Tyler tells me my budget before we go in
and then I cause mass chaos with that budget.
Yeah.
It's good to set your budget beforehand.
Oh, it's like gambling.
No, it is good to set your budget.
So I was mad.
I was big mad.
So I was like, well, I'm not walking away with nothing.
And Tyler was telling me that I was doing a good thing
because even if I didn't get a lot of things,
I was getting people to spend more money
because I was causing so much chaos.
So it was like I was still brain-helping.
But I ended up buying an entire rhesus basket for the kids
because when mom and dad used to go to dinner auctions,
remember when they would like bring home a basket sometimes?
And it was like the most exciting thing in the world.
Yeah, that's true.
That's true.
Yeah.
So I was like, I want to get something for the kids.
So I bought the rhesus basket.
$73.
OK.
Feels, I mean, definitely not value,
but was fun to bring home, fun to bring home with the kids.
Then there was this like basket that had like a Stanley
and an Ander wallet.
Paid 80 bucks.
OK.
Like not even at value yet.
So I felt good.
And then there was this gift card basket.
And the gift card baskets I love,
there was it was it was $250 worth of gift cards
to places like Texas Roadhouse, Olive Garden.
Those are good.
And three big scratchers and a cooler.
OK.
So I paid $245 for that.
OK.
But I got the gift cards, which is $250.
That's money.
And I liked them because they were broken up
into $25 increments.
So I'm going to save them for Christmas.
Good thing to save for gifts.
Good thing to just like pull out on yourself.
So that felt productive.
So all's to say, I spent $400 there on all my baskets.
Oh my gosh.
I got it.
I got it.
But my budget was $500.
So I came in under under $100.
Oh my gosh.
But yeah, like that's why.
So yeah.
Those were my last transactions.
We weren't even.
But I'm excited about my dollhouse.
And again, it was a donation.
It was not the dollhouse.
Not the dollhouse.
No, no.
But it was a donation.
That's why the interactions are so fun.
And if you don't have the interactions or live them,
so sorry.
Like start one at your school.
You're leaving money on the table.
Yeah.
And it's not just a private school thing
because I go to public school ones all the time.
OK.
I can't wait for the interaction.
It might be a small school thing.
Like all the schools I'm going to are pretty small.
OK.
Yeah.
But just sounds like bigger school, bigger funds,
bigger prices.
Yeah.
And I love when like the parents get creative
with like what they can get,
like what they can give away for the school,
like front row tickets to the concert, parking spots.
This interaction did us something fun
because all the kids made artwork
and it was hanging on the walls
and you could buy your kids artwork for $10.
And then I told all the kids,
like make sure your parents pay for your artwork.
I love it.
Yeah.
It'd be so offended if they didn't.
That's what I'm saying.
I think they know that.
I think they're leaning into that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
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