Statement of Retraction

A Mullen: 4 Corners story about a missing package of bite size Oreos was based on suspicions that appear to have been unfounded, the reporter and editor responsible for the story said Monday.

Reporter Mary Karlee and her managing editor Ryan Mullen, hereby issue a statement of retraction. "We apologize for the misinformation and any undue stress this caused nursery parents and/or leaders," said the statement, signed by the writers and staff of Mullen: 4 Corners. This statement comes after a nursery leader promptly reported passing out the aforementioned Oreos as a hypo-allergenic treat at the end of nursery. The blog took withering criticism for the Oreo article, which appeared on Sunday evening. "It appears that what I took to be flecks of dirt on Jenna's cheek were in fact genuine Oreo crumbs," Ryan admitted Monday evening. "While I can't speak for the lab that examined our findings, I think the analysis was complicated since Jenna's known to eat food off the ground."

"When I initially interrogated the main witness, 18 month-old Jenna," Mary Karlee recalled, "she refused to answer any questions, except with the occasional 'baby' or 'bird'. Nothing that sounded like 'Oreo'. She wouldn't even tell me how old she was. I had to go on circumstantial evidence."

"As nursery parents ourselves, we express our gratitude for those who watch and teach our toddler every Sunday. Based on our grandparent policy, we affirm the autonomy of whoever is watching our kids to dispense or withhold whatever food they feel is appropriate," the Mullens said in what must have been rehearsed simultaneity.

Christmas is Here!

MK & I retrieved all our Christmas decorations over the weekend. After Church, Marielle begged me to wait until her quiet time was over so she could help decorate. Jenna woke up by that time, too, so it was a full family affair. Here are my favorite moments:

• The nativities. We have 3, all kid-friendly. MK overheard this storyline night from Marielle, "Oh no! Oh no! Mary is going to marry one of the wisemen. Oh no! Here comes Joseph. We need to stall that wedding!" Then the sheep and camels rushed in. We obviously need to work on the Christmas story.
  
  
  
• Jenna stomped and twirled spontaneously as Frosty the Snowman played on Pandora.
• My musical tie went off as I said the closing prayer in sacrament meeting yesterday.
  
• As I pulled out and tested Christmas lights, Marielle ran over. I told her, "We had these lights in Houston and put them up on our house." M.e., "Isn't it fun to see all the things I don't remember?"
• M.e.: "We should have a Christmas dinner!"
  Mom: "What do you eat at a Christmas dinner?"
  Me: "Christmas food."
  Mom: "Like chicken, mac n cheese and biscuits?" (The already planned dinner)
  Me: "Yeah!"
  Both kids polished off their Christmas food with relish.
  
• Since we live in an apartment with no outdoor electrical outlets, I decided to put our colored lights inside our living room. After the first string, MK confessed she felt a little like Kramer living across from the Kenny Roger's Roasters neon sign. I believe her exact words were, "Well, it's not soothing." But I persisted, and after the girls' reaction this morning MK decided it was worth it. Jenna turned a full circle reaching up for the lights while saying "Oooooooooooooooh!" and Marielle danced and jumped around the room to Christmas music.
  
  
  
• We couldn't help but feel the Christmas glow this morning when Marielle said in her breakfast prayer, "And I like eating on Christmas plates. And I loved eating with my Christmas spoon last night. And I love Christmas, it is the best holiday of all."

W.W.S.W.K.D?

For those of you out of the acronym loop, the title stands for "What Would Spencer W. Kimball Do?" And for those of you out of the Spencer W. Kimball loop, we defer to his discerning judgment since he was quite the prankster in his pre-apostle days.

We were asked to bring snack to Nursery. Since we've been recent frequenters ourselves, due to Jenna's nursery initiation, we know how snack goes down. The kids must eat "something healthy" to get the token graham or animal cracker as a reward. Sadly Jenna is not really a fan of fruit and veggies (read: she won't touch the stuff and spits out anything even remotely resembling organic or non-processed). So you see, Jenna doesn't get much to eat.

I jokingly suggested sending Oreo's in non-compliance with the very nice note the nursery leaders sent describing appropriate snack suggestions. Ryan thought this idea was too good to be a joke and insisted we do it. After all, why send food we know our child won't eat? As you can see from the picture, we compromised: tangerines AND Oreos.

Exhibit A, Nursery Snack Basket and instructions.
After Nursery we inspected Jenna's mouth for the tell-tale signs of Oreo crumbs and found none. Plus, I checked in on Jenna during snack time: tangerines were out in force, but no snacksters on the napkins. The Oreos were not consumed, YET, not returned. And I want to know, who is eating those little gems? Should we demand our cookies or hope that they are resting in the closet until the day snack is forgotten and the leaders are desperate to stave off a 3 year-old led mutiny?

Jenna é dezoito meses hoje!

This li'l cutie is now ready for nursery!

But is nursery ready for Jenna?

A Trip to China Town

This weekend Ryan and I went to a wedding in Oakland. It was a mini family get-together since Ryan's brother and parents attended as well. In between wedding and reception we had some time to kill, so we hit up China Town in Downtown SF. We ate delicious Chinese food (what else?) and rode the trolley car. We shopped a bit too.



I'm sure you'll agree that even though our girls did not make the trip with us, they were the real China Town winners.

Sleeping Beauty's Entourage

Marielle dictated costumes this year. She named what she and everyone else was to be. I'm pretty sure she won't get complete costume control in future years, but actually it was pretty fun to do a whole family theme.

Marielle's Princess Aurora dress was amazing. Ryan's mom actually sewed the dress and it is gorgeous. Marielle loved wearing it and most importantly, twirling in it.
Ryan was her Prince Philip. And while his costume was much more "homespun", he danced with her and made her feel like a real princess. (I'm so glad he's my prince too.) Jenna and I got to be two of the three good fairies. I knew long ago that regardless of what Jenna's costume might be, she would be wearing a tutu. The fairy costume worked out splendidly with my tutu vision. And so the Mullen family lived happily ever after this Halloween.