What is cuddly, fluffy and starts with an E? Sarah Maxwell Gets a Dog

[Season of life...]

I, too, loved to see Sarah using brightly colored fonts in her latest puppy post. I had thought color was verboten in that family.

I imagine her world has been grey for so long--actually more like black and white, with joys few and far between. Maybe a mini Blizzard from Dairy Queen once or twice a year as a reward for a particularly grueling day of manual labor in Maxhell.

It actually did my heart good to see the lovely picture of Sarah holding her beloved Ellie. Her smile does indeed reach her eyes now.

@lawlifelgbt: I'm sure it was awful for you, but I had to chuckle a bit after reading about your dog ripping up a library book because it brought to mind one of the funniest memories I have from working in a library. I had a gentleman shamefacedly place a terribly chewed book on my counter; he already had his checkbook out to pay. The title? "When Good Dogs Do Bad Things".

 

[CyborgKin]

So was that Sarah's April Fools post?

[Howl]

4 hours ago, Season of life... said:

@lawlifelgbt: I'm sure it was awful for you, but I had to chuckle a bit after reading about your dog ripping up a library book because it brought to mind one of the funniest memories I have from working in a library. I had a gentleman shamefacedly place a terribly chewed book on my counter; he already had his checkbook out to pay. The title? "When Good Dogs Do Bad Things".

Now one of my favorite FJ posts ever. 

[CyborgKin]

Why don't we get a big Free Jinger is not an Ellie Fansite reminder?

[Trynn]

Why don't we get a big Free Jinger is not an Ellie Fansite reminder? [emoji6]

Because I like puppies better than fundies.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

Watch out Sarah! The dog's a trap! I hear Steve calling the fabled "Friends with a Farm" since you are clearly IDOL WORSHIPPING!!!!!!!!!  Hurry, Sarah! Sew a Guide Dog outfit for her and escape!

[mango_fandango]

The whole gang, minus "Joseph and crew", had a cleanup day at Gigi's followed by a pizza picnic. Cleanup involved spreading mulch and cleaning up the yard. Post ends with the obligatory family shot. 

I know it's the Maxwells, but I do kinda agree with the statement about work seeming more fun when shared with others. Many hands make light work and all that jazz...

[DrPusey]

"Joseph and Crew" seem to be off doing their own thing out-of-town more often than the other married brothers. I know a lot of Melanie's family are local, but how many times has NR Anna been back to Washington to see her folks since she got married?

Elissa's parents are probably fairly well off, since he's the Treasurer of a large company. I have a theory that they're slipping Joseph and Elissa money under the table to come visit.

[Trynn]

The whole gang, minus "Joseph and crew", had a cleanup day at Gigi's followed by a pizza picnic. Cleanup involved spreading mulch and cleaning up the yard. Post ends with the obligatory family shot. 

I know it's the Maxwells, but I do kinda agree with the statement about work seeming more fun when shared with others. Many hands make light work and all that jazz...

"My dear, many hands make a LOT of work." --great grandma, responding to her future daughter in law saying that. God I miss her.

[CyborgKin]

5 hours ago, mango_fandango said:

The whole gang, minus "Joseph and crew", had a cleanup day at Gigi's followed by a pizza picnic. Cleanup involved spreading mulch and cleaning up the yard. Post ends with the obligatory family shot. 

I know it's the Maxwells, but I do kinda agree with the statement about work seeming more fun when shared with others. Many hands make light work and all that jazz...

Too many cooks...

[mango_fandango]

1 hour ago, CyborgKin said:

Too many cooks...

Yeah I was thinking that too actually! But I imagine that for something like yard cleanup it's easier to have more than one person doing it. 

[crawfishgirl]

Yard work goes MUCH more quickly when there are many people helping.  I occasionally work on my yard alone, and it takes a long time to finish.  When I get my kids to help, it is finished much faster.  For projects with easily-defined parameters and lots of space, the more the merrier.

[anjulibai]

Anyone else think it was odd that there wasn't a single picture of GiGi?

[SPHASH]

10 hours ago, anjulibai said:

Anyone else think it was odd that there wasn't a single picture of GiGi?

Yes.  Maybe she doesnt want her mug on the blog.

 

New post upAnna and Mary hosted another Auntie's play time on Monday afternoon Sarah talks about how nice it is to aunts and uncles living nearby.  She thinks it is a rare occurrence.   Newsflash Sarah, a lot of kids live in the same town as their aunts and uncles!  I was one of them.  Of course my  Aunts werent   34 year old spinters still living at home with their parents

[albanuadh_1]

Wonder why Sarah is not included with 'hosting' Aunties' play time?

[mango_fandango]

In that top photo, Christina looks very much like Abby. Abby smiles like that. In the post about Abby and Bethany getting baptised, there's a photo of Abby eating afterwards where she has the exact same smile.

[goldbu]

59 minutes ago, SPHASH said:

 

New post upAnna and Mary hosted another Auntie's play time on Monday afternoon Sarah talks about how nice it is to aunts and uncles living nearby.  She thinks it is a rare occurrence.   Newsflash Sarah, a lot of kids live in the same town as their aunts and uncles!  I was one of them.  Of course my  Aunts werent   34 year old spinters still living at home with their parents

Ugh, Sarah is so smug. Yes, it's so wonderful to live near your aunts and uncles, as long as those are Maxwell aunts and uncles. We can't have Maxwell grandkids living too near (or interacting too much with) the other side of their family... Things like this make me believe that none of the Maxwell girls will ever get married because heaven forbid they move away from the compound.  Their only hope is for a husband who wants to live in a mile radius of rest of the "extended family." 

[mango_fandango]

Bethany's a born runner apparently. Such a damn shame she'll never be allowed anywhere near a sports club or team of any sort. It's horrible to let natural talents go to waste. OK, if the kid themselves doesn't want to do anything, that's OK, it's their decision. But this Maxhell. No autonomy allowed, especially not for children.

[SolomonFundy]

28 minutes ago, mango_fandango said:

Bethany's a born runner apparently. Such a damn shame she'll never be allowed anywhere near a sports club or team of any sort. It's horrible to let natural talents go to waste. OK, if the kid themselves doesn't want to do anything, that's OK, it's their decision. But this Maxhell. No autonomy allowed, especially not for children.

"Bethany's a born runner! So we force her to wear this hobbling skirt and non-supportive shoes so that she doesn't get too many ideas. You never can be too careful when it comes to children! And I should know since I've been a child for nearly 35 years."

2 hours ago, goldbu said:

Ugh, Sarah is so smug. Yes, it's so wonderful to live near your aunts and uncles, as long as those are Maxwell aunts and uncles. We can't have Maxwell grandkids living too near (or interacting too much with) the other side of their family... Things like this make me believe that none of the Maxwell girls will ever get married because heaven forbid they move away from the compound.  Their only hope is for a husband who wants to live in a mile radius of rest of the "extended family." 

Things like this also reinforce just how deep the Kool-aid Kreek runs at Camp Maxhell. Sarah is smug about shit like this because she's 100% confident that what she's saying is the truth. Why? Years and years of being fed Steve's lies on nearly every possible level. Big lies, small lies, medium-sized lies, and more lies just to wrap it all up nicely. From this post we can deduce that, in addition to their other sins, Steve and Teri have apparently told the whole lot of them that out in the Fallen World of Scariness, aunts and uncles never live near their nieces and nephews. Because Satan. Or something.

Sometimes, it's the little things that rattle me about the Maxwells. This is one of those times. It's such a tiny, inconsequential statement, but the layers of manipulation necessary in order to float a belief like this into a grown woman's mind is staggering. And so, so sad.

[kpmom]

7 hours ago, SolomonFundy said:

 

Things like this also reinforce just how deep the Kool-aid Kreek runs at Camp Maxhell. Sarah is smug about shit like this because she's 100% confident that what she's saying is the truth. Why? Years and years of being fed Steve's lies on nearly every possible level. Big lies, small lies, medium-sized lies, and more lies just to wrap it all up nicely. From this post we can deduce that, in addition to their other sins, Steve and Teri have apparently told the whole lot of them that out in the Fallen World of Scariness, aunts and uncles never live near their nieces and nephews. Because Satan. Or something.

 

What's interesting is neither Teri's sister, or Steve's siblings live near them in Kansas.  Afaik, the children did not grow up near aunts and uncles.

[nausicaa]

9 hours ago, mango_fandango said:

Bethany's a born runner apparently. Such a damn shame she'll never be allowed anywhere near a sports club or team of any sort. It's horrible to let natural talents go to waste. 

That comment annoyed me so much as well. Bethany's a born runner! So she gets utilize that talent running around in backyards in an ill fitting cotton skirt. So blessed!

Honestly, what is the point of the Maxwells pointing out the talents of their family members? No one gets to actually pursue them or achieve anything. 

[johnhugh]

52 minutes ago, kpmom said:

What's interesting is neither Teri's sister, or Steve's siblings live near them in Kansas.  Afaik, the children did not grow up near aunts and uncles.

There was a time when Teri's sister (Tamie? gosh Teri & Tamie - great naming Gigi) used to reply on the blog to birthdays etc. It always seemed rather odd, as surely an extended, extended family member could phone, text or email? Or has Stevie sent her to the prayer closet? 

[bertnee]

Quote

Can you imagine how neat it would have been to live near aunts and uncles when you were young? Now, in this second generation of large families, it’s an actual reality.

 

The smug is strong! I lived near my aunts & uncles when I was young, Sarah. Many people live near family. It's not that special. Of course, everyone living within a two block radius and only socializing with each other is a different story....

(And it's probably not the kind of special that normal people want to be known for.)

[anjulibai]

I lived near a bunch of my aunts growing up - most of them had kids already. The ones that didn't do now. Actually, I lived with a couple of them at various times growing up, so..... Uncles lived far away, and when they were around I thought they were self-centered jackasses. 

The Maxwells make an awful lot of assumptions about how people live. 

[SPHASH]

Maybe NR Anna and Elissa's siblings would like to have their sisters kids nearby too but thanks to Steve's selfishness that will never happen.