Elissa and Joe, 1st anniversary

[Rear Window]

Mary has changed....I think she was wearing some makeup in the earlier photo, and shaping her eyebrows...but not now. I hope Steve or Terri didn't make her feel badly for wanting to look her best, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Sept 2014

Sept 2015

Wow! That looks like at least a half inch more on each side. She really is a pretty girl and doesn't need make up. But how sad if she's not allowed to pluck and use make up because of Steve.

[PrairieGirl]

Oh my Lord, I only started following the Maxwells recently and had no idea she used to have normal eyebrows. Her current eyebrows have been so distracting every time I visit their blog. In fact I have their blog titled on my bookmarks list as "Eyebrows and Sadness".

[Seven Severn]

>>lots of snippage<< Oh my Lord, I only started following the Maxwells recently and had no idea she used to have normal eyebrows. Her current eyebrows have been so distracting every time I visit their blog. In fact I have their blog titled on my bookmarks list as "Eyebrows and Sadness".

Oh my fuck, I laughed so hard at the bolded. Thank you! :clap: :clap: :clap:

Edited to snip.

[Dru]

Didn't Sarah once say she used to wear makeup, but her family said she looked so much better without it she stopped? I wonder if something like that happened with Mary.

I don't really care who does and doesn't wear makeup. I regularly don't wear any and even go to work like that. But I like to wear it as well and am glad I make that choice based on how I feel about makeup, not what others tell me they think I look like.

Yep, Sarah was promptly talked out of her "choice" to wear makeup. Considering that, I was surprised to see Mary semi-frequently wearing foundation.

[WonderingInWA]

I think most of the Maxwell children have struggled with acne so the girls have experimented at different times with wearing makeup, or at least foundation. Mary's skin looks a little broken out in her latest photos, but dealing with acne can be so hard -- you want to cover it up with makeup which makes it worse! But the brows have grown in, I think, so there's some grooming which has gone by the wayside beyond whether she abandoned makeup or not.

[blessalessi]

I wonder how much the Maxwell women have been allowed to know about the Duggar scandals. Mary wrote a promo piece about Growing up Duggar, way before the scandal, and it was speculated here that Steve may have allowed the transition from frumpers because it helped the Duggar brand.

Given that Steve places blame on the individual for whatever happens to them, I speculate that he has probably heard from the Lord that make-up and fashion can cause women to be abused.

And with the Duggar scandal happening at the same time Rebel John is breaking free. Well it looks like Steve is giving John more freedom ( in a controlled way- work and mission, to keep him too busy to find his own girlfriend like John Marie). And maybe he is controlling the only thing he can control by clamping down on the girls.

I think all the young women are beautiful anyway. But they have stopped talking about Mary as the stylist and have seem to have moved her into drawing schedule book pictures instead.

Teri, meanwhile, looks radiant lately. Retirement from home schooling may finally have cured her depression!

[princessmahina]

Given that Steve places blame on the individual for whatever happens to them, I speculate that he has probably heard from the Lord that make-up and fashion can cause women to be abused.

Teri dresses frumpily and doesn't wear makeup. What did she do to make Steve treat her the way he does?

Maxwellian logic, ugh. :evil:

[Hane]

Re the Cardboard Poster of Guilt and Shame: It looks just like those corrugated cardboard sheets I buy to support the sheet cakes I bake and decorate. At least I cover mine with colorful poly foil so the cakes are on something pretty.)

[nokidsmom]

Mary does look different now compared to before and the brows do seem bigger.

I hope that it's because she just hasn't been taking care of them and not because her crazy parents told her she was making an idol of grooming. It seems ridiculous that her parents would make her eyebrows their business but I can tell you that my mother was totally hung up on my plucking my eyebrows (bad experience in her youth doing them). I sported a unibrow in my early teens and it wasn't until a hair stylist cutting my hair for my high school graduation told my mom that she seriously had to let me do something about them. I got them waxed that very day but for years afterward, and I mean years, if she decided I plucked too much, she would have to admonish me for doing it. So I can see either Teri or Steve doing something similar.

[Handmaiden of Dog]

Mary and her sisters are probably all so sensitive that Steve just has to hint a little, "Mary, have you prayed about the amount of time you spend looking in the mirror?" In fact, Steve may bring up a minor matter but the daughters take it another way, in a broader context. Overthinking is something brainwashed people and people in abusive situations do all the time. I can so easily imagine Steve saying something to Mary about eyebrows and she taking that to mean she should leave them alone.

[singsingsing]

I looked at the recent pictures and then looked at pictures of her from a year or two ago, and she looks pretty much the same to me. I'm not even seeing the eyebrow difference. But her skin seems to have gotten a bit worse, and - this is kind of weird - in the older pictures she always looks terrified. Like she's forcing herself to smile this big smile but she looks like she could be about to scream bloody murder and bolt for cover. In the new pictures she just looks tired.

[johnhugh]

If I remember correctly, there was a time - maybe a year ago when Poor Sarah did a post on how I-Love-My-Daddy-Mary was the Maxwells what some would call fashion guru. I recall it was on one of their horse dog and pony shows and Mary had started styling her hair more and all the Maxwell girls were experimenting in wearing the ever so risqué accessory of a ....

Scarf.

As previous posters have suggested, Stevie thought Mary's style had become an idol.

I remember a time when the Maxwell ladies went super trendy:

(Image from another FJ member)

[mango_fandango]

If I remember correctly, there was a time - maybe a year ago when Poor Sarah did a post on how I-Love-My-Daddy-Mary was the Maxwells what some would call fashion guru. I recall it was on one of their horse dog and pony shows and Mary had started styling her hair more and all the Maxwell girls were experimenting in wearing the ever so risqué accessory of a ....

Scarf.

As previous posters have suggested, Stevie thought Mary's style had become an idol.

I remember a time when the Maxwell ladies went super trendy:

(Image from another FJ member)

That image: :lol: :lol: :lol:

DAT ASS, SARAH. And work those assets, Teri! We don't call you a Tits2 woman for nothing!!

[Brittany15]

That image: :lol: :lol: :lol:

DAT ASS, SARAH. And work those assets, Teri! We don't call you a Tits2 woman for nothing!!

The funny thing is the Maxwell girls are actually all in very good physical condition. I imagine that if they put on those clothes that picture would not be that far off.

[nelliebelle1197]

If I remember correctly, there was a time - maybe a year ago when Poor Sarah did a post on how I-Love-My-Daddy-Mary was the Maxwells what some would call fashion guru. I recall it was on one of their horse dog and pony shows and Mary had started styling her hair more and all the Maxwell girls were experimenting in wearing the ever so risqué accessory of a ....

Scarf.

As previous posters have suggested, Stevie thought Mary's style had become an idol.

I remember a time when the Maxwell ladies went super trendy:

(Image from another FJ member)

I had forgotten about that!

I wonder if Mary is making less effort because they are no lingering conferencing - no chance to meet boys and hang out with other sheltered chidults?

[twin2]

About Mary. Honestly, I haven't noticed any differences that can't be attributed to the Maxwell's crappy photography, but one thing does come to mind.

A while back, during one of the dog and pony tours, there was a conference where all the girls wore their hair in curls. Sarah made a comment that Mary had an idea to do something different with their hair (the curls) and asked 'for permission' to do it. Now in most families, that would be read to mean that Mary asked permission from Sarah and Anna if she could curl their hair. But in Maxwell land, we all know who Mary had to ask for permission to change up the hair-style.

So long story short, yeah I have no doubt Steve and Teri have a heavy hand in their daughter's appearance.

[usmcmom]

I think Steve has made Mary give up her beauty routine. Whether she was making an idol of it or not, she was clearly getting some attention for her beauty from us here on FJ and I think that made Steve panic. After all, if a bunch of evil feminists on the interwebz likes the way she looks...well...that can't be good. Poor Steve - to live in fear of such silly things. The thing is, John also gets a lot of oohs and ahhs on here, but what can Steve do? He can't take anything away from John because, presumably, he doesn't have a beauty routine. I'm sure if there was something Steve could do to uglify him, he would.

Regarding the cardboard art that Anna made Terri; I wonder if her hope was to make something with the trendy burlap look and all she had on hand (all that Christopher would let her use) was a piece of cardboard. That lettering is amazing and really is a talent. My daughter does lots of signs and I've tried to copy her lettering and it just can't be done unless you have the talent, in my opinion. If I received a cardboard hand lettered sign, I'd frame it and add some embellishments to the frame. It could be made to look quite nice. It really is a shame to see the Maxwell women show such talent in things and not be allowed to use their gifts. Anna could make scripture signs like that - on higher quality material, of course - and sell them through Etsy or something. It's like Mary's talent for sewing....if you're too good at it, you can't continue it in the Maxwell world. I almost feel guilty for complimenting Anna's work in a public manner. Steve and Christopher are sure to take it away from her now.

[Granwych]

Greetings, FJers, as a long-lurking reader I sit in awe at your talents and intelligence. That shot of Teri and the MaxBelles nearly had me spewing over the keyboard. Wouldn't that make a nice gift for the head of that household?!

My family got computerized in 1999, and while I'm not sure when I found the Maxwells, I've been following them for quite some time. I read and posted to the Mothboard,etc, but never parted with any $$. Should they travel to my neck of the woods (southern New England) I might see if they are as bland in person as they are online.

Anyhow, thanks for reading and again, for that awesome photo! I bow to your cleverness! :clap: :clap:

[LurkerOverThePond]

It's like Mary's talent for sewing....if you're too good at it, you can't continue it in the Maxwell world.

And that's exactly why Poor Sarah is still allowed to write her books...

[IReallyAmHopewell]

And that's exactly why Poor Sarah is still allowed to write her books...

It's a "career" her Daddy has approved that can be done in those 10 minutes a week she's alone in the bathroom using the you-know-what. Or she can write when they are in the van and NOT doing Bible Study. That's a LOT of time--probably another 5 or so minutes while the guys "refresh" themselves.

[mango_fandango]

Newest post: two photos. One of the night sky and another of Uriah at night. (They're from 2013).

Now that the games-night-topping pie fellowship is over, they're really scraping the barrel.

They haven't had a fast for a while- wasn't the last one in May? I didn't really know about FJ anti-fasts until the last one, and even then I took part inadvertently. C'mon, I want an excuse to pig out...

[Elegant Mess]

They haven't had a fast for a while- wasn't the last one in May? I didn't really know about FJ anti-fasts until the last one, and even then I took part inadvertently. C'mon, I want an excuse to pig out...

What?! You need an excuse to pig out?! :wink-kitty:

I, too, was thinking the other day that it has been awhile since the last Maxwell fast. Maybe Steve is adding this to the list of things he's now secretive about?

I know this may sound strange, but I really miss Uriah. I'm growing nostalgic for blog posts detailing the change-out of cracked windshields. Did anyone ever keep track of how many times that happened?

By the way, I bought a "Team Uriah" keychain from our Zazzle store - it holds my car keys! :lol:

[twin2]

Newest post: two photos. One of the night sky and another of Uriah at night. (They're from 2013).

Now that the games-night-topping pie fellowship is over, they're really scraping the barrel.

They haven't had a fast for a while- wasn't the last one in May? I didn't really know about FJ anti-fasts until the last one, and even then I took part inadvertently. C'mon, I want an excuse to pig out...

Maybe Steve decided that FJ was making an idol out of their fasts, so he took them away from us.

[mango_fandango]

Maybe Steve decided that FJ was making an idol out of their fasts, so he took them away from us.

But how else are they going to practice self-sacrifice and pray for the men and women of the flock?

No, wait, they do that all the time.

(By the way, I saw somewhere that apparently they spend New Year's Eve on their knees crying, presumably praying for lost souls. Is this even true?)

[SPHASH]

But how else are they going to practice self-sacrifice and pray for the men and women of the flock?

No, wait, they do that all the time.

(By the way, I saw somewhere that apparently they spend New Year's Eve on their knees crying, presumably praying for lost souls. Is this even true?)

Yes