MJ's First Stitches

Mackinley got his first stitches today! He was running and tripped and fell and hit his head on the corner of a wall. He did really well...he just got VERY angry when they had to pin him down. He's fine, he's playing and laughing and completely back to normal, other than the 2 stitches in his head!

Ok I changed my mind....

I have decided to not make our blog private. I had an overwhelming response of people who I don't even know asking to be added to the viewers list.

We have nothing to hide. We have nothing to be ashamed of. This blog is to share our lives with our friends and family who live far away and NEVER get to see us. Making it private just makes me feel kind of "snobby".

There will always be people who see our happy lives and feel the need to try and make us miserable. What they don't know is that we will not be miserable, we have God at the center of our family and He will not let us be torn down. We refuse to let others dictate how our life will be lived or affect our family.

This is me shrugging off the negativity and moving on. If you view our blog and don't like what you see, there's a simple solution. Stop viewing our blog.

I want to thank all of you who view our blog and sent me emails with your overwhelming support and encouraging words. I had no idea just how many people out there are pulling for us and praying for us.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Kaeleigh's here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After over a month of not seeing her, we FINALLY got to have Kaeleigh for our weekend again!!! We missed her so much and it's been so great to have her back. She is such a joy and she and "Brudder" have really been bonding lately. Mackinley missed her so much, he would look at me and put his little hands out like he couldn't find her and say "Sissy??". That was sad...but now it's over because she's HERE!!!!

Uh oh...Papoo won't like this one...Kaeleigh was helping Brudder look pretty by sharing her necklaces with him.

Fish face!!!

Kaeleigh asked me to take these two pictures...she was having fun with the blanket. Notice Mackinley still has a necklace....LOL

Winding Down

The last "activity" for the evening was watching "Toy Story". Kaeleigh said she'd never seen it before!!

Here they are after their bedtime story, ready to turn in for the night!! (No, Jason is not strangling Mackinley! LOL)

This Morning

This is what the munchkins have been up to this morning. Now I need to get off this computer and get ready because I'm taking Kaeleigh shopping!! Girls day out!

Gingered Chicken with Vegetables

2T vegetable oil, divided
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into strips (I used 3 breasts)
1c red pepper strips
1c sliced fresh mushrooms
16 fresh pea pods, cut in half crosswise
1/2c sliced water chestnuts
1/4c sliced green onions
1T grated fresh ginger root
1 large clove of garlic, crushed
2/3c reduced-fat chicken broth
2T Equal (I used sugar)
2T soy sauce
4t cornstarch
2t dark sesame oil
salt & pepper to taste

1. Heat 1T oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir fry chicken until no longer pink; remove chicken from the skillet.

2. Heat remaining 1T oil in skillet. Add red peppers, mushrooms, pea pods, water chestnuts, green onion, ginger and garlic to skillet. Stir fry mixture 3 to 4 minutes until vegetables are tender.

3. Meanwhile, combine chicken broth, Equal, soy sauce, cornstarch and sesame oil until smooth. Stir into skillet mixture. Cook over medium heat until thick and clear. Stir in chicken; heat through. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

4. Serve over cooked rice, if desired.

263 calories
11g carb
29g protein
11g fat
66mg chol
Exchanges: 2 veg, 4 meat

Yield: 4 servings

This recipe is my favorite out of the ones we've tried so far. I did add a can of bamboo shoots because I love those. Very tasty and healthy!!!

The Life & Times of Mackinley James

Reading a magazine...

Sleeping...

Eating lasagna...(eating it or just rubbing it all over his face??)

Making a masterpiece on the Aquadoodle...

Eating a corn dog....(he didn't like the breading on this one)

Making important phone calls...(Hewwo?)

Watching Blue's Clues....

Nap Time?

Jason thought he'd take a nap. He even pulled the little bed out of the loveseat so he could be extra comfy. WRONG!! MJ had other ideas!!

Olivia & Lilly

I got to watch Lilly & Olivia for my good friend Kim. We had fun!!! It was interesting to have 2 toddlers and a newborn for a few hours!

More Street Fair Pictures

Korie & Chris came up Friday night to enjoy the fair festivities with us. Remember last year when Korie got the questionable cheese curd?? It happened AGAIN this year!!!! LOL!

Big Band

Mackinley LOVED the Street Fair band. We stayed and watched them for 3 whole songs and he never got bored...I think he would have stayed there all night!! I have a video of him that shows a little better how much he was getting in to it...I just need to upload it to You Tube and that takes forever. But don't worry, I'll post it! He was dancing and clapping and laughing and saying "YAY!!!!" (not in the video, I couldn't capture everything, of course.).

The Carousel

Mackinley LOVED the carousel. So much that we rode it twice!! And he cried like his heart was broken when we had to walk by it to get back to our car!

Another Video

My cousin Don shared this with me and I thought I would pass it on. It has a very powerful message!!

Mom's Video

My Mom found this video and shared it with me...watch out, you'll laugh and then if you're like me, you'll sob. LOL!!! Very awesome, thank you for sharing it, Mom.

I'm Sorry

Hello friends and family!!

I'm afraid our blog is going to have to go private. We are being accused of posting inappropriate pictures of our children and to avoid any further drama from the accuser, this blog will be private so they can't view it.

If you would like to be able to continue to view our blog, please email me at keri.kins@mchsi.com and I will add your email to the list of people who are allowed to view our blog.

This new change will be effective Monday, September 24. Again, I apologize for the inconvenience and this is NOT what I meant our blog for but people can be hateful.

The Bluffton Street Fair

Tonight was the kick off for the Bluffton Street Fair. It's one of the largest FREE Street Fair's in the world (? am I wrong, I feel like that's kinda crazy). It goes from tonight through Saturday night. There's LOTS of yummy food and of course you see lots of people you haven't seen in a while. (KARI MOON....haha I only see you at Street Fair, it seems!!) Mackinley had his first corn dog ever and he loved it!! We had fun! =) Jason has to work so we only get to see him for minutes at a time but it's better than not at all!

Funny guys!!

Joel Cash (a long time friend of the Broyles children) and Josh Branyon (used to be a Broyles neighbor...and I went to high school with his older brother) goofing off during the parade.

Watching the parade

Mackinley enjoyed the parade...for the most part. His favorite things are the bands, dogs, and motorcycles. Motorcycles being his MOST favorite part. Between these things, though, he was VERY squirmy and wanted down then up then in the stroller then out...needless to say, we were glad when the parade was over. LOL (Haley, thank you for taking these pictures!!!!)

Back to the corn dog!

Much to my appreciation, Mackinley wanted back in his stroller so he could finish his corn dog. He had fun with the man sitting beside him...they made each other laugh!