A little early but we do have a birthday coming up

Eli's birthday is the next in the house. His birthday is still over two months away but with his birthday we really need more planning due to Gracie's schedule over the summer. Whether she will be here or not. Will we be gone, should we wait for her to return? She is usually in Florida with her other grandparents during Eli's birthday so it does take some planning. We don't usually do big parties with the kids though so that is a good thing but still, we have to plan so we know what we are doing somewhat. Well, over the past couple of years, Randy and I have gone to Florida to pick Gracie up from her grandparents. Last year, for the first time, we took Eli and Hanny with us. We stayed a couple extra days and had a blast. The kids loved it and especially loved the beach. Eli held a huge love for the beach! He loved the shore, sand, and would even sit with me on the beach and just watch and listen. He didn't go into the water as much as the girls and loved playing in the sand, although he did do his share of time in the water. He just really loved the beach. I was thinking since we do have to get Gracie around the time of his birthday, we celebrate his birthday at the beach. That would definately mean sacrifices though. We usually celebrate the kids birthdays with my parents and they wouldn't be there to celebrate. :( Also, Eli wants a skateboard, which isn't quite decided on (do they come with bubblewrap for the kids protection), and he wouldn't have a place to try it out if he got one. Randy also wants to go to his mom's in LA if possible when we go pick up Gracie and that would really limit our time to do this, if we even can. Randy only has four days off and that isn't much time to do everything. I really want to do E's bday in FL but Randy is pushing to do it in LA. Also, the cake situation? I really want to make a cake this year. I would have to order it online at least to have it by the time we celebrate. All in all, with Eli's love of the beach though it seems so perfect to have a party at the beach for his birthday though. I guess we will have to have alot more thought and more adult family discusion about this whole thing to figure out what we are going to do!

I'm finally blogging...

So I am finally blogging. I haven't blogged in over a year. I used to blog all the time on Myspace but switched over to Facebook and quit blogging. Also we moved in with my parents a little over a year ago and that had alot to do with it. One computer, seven people. Not much time for things like writing blogs. Thankfully, God provided and the computer situation has been fixed! I now have a laptop, my mom has her own mini laptop, and we have an extra one for the kids or my husband to use if he needs it. He is in school and uses the desktop usually though for schooling. Yes, we all love our laptops and can use them anywhere in the house. I have even taken the kids outside to play and did some research on mine while sitting out there with them! We considered getting desktops for the family but due to lack of space with seven people in a house the laptops seemed a better option and yes, they definately are! I just have to say that I love the fact that I can be up and blogging again though. I love the fact that I can have a page with all my thoughts, ideas, plans, and randomness on one blog, and I can have a blog with updates on the family on another. I like FB but beyond posting some pics. and writing a status or sending messages you can't really do a good constant update that people can look at when they have time or when they want to. Most of our dear friends live so far away that we either never see them or only see them every few years, I would really love to give them a glimpse into our lives beyond FB. No, I won't quit using FB, I love it and, yes, I admit, I am addicted, but this is just another way of reaching out to our friends and family. I love social networking, it has given me the ability to find people I thought of as family that I had lost all contact with over the years. I am so happy they are now part of my life again and I am part of theirs. Yes, we have all moved on, grown older, most of us are married and have children of our own, differnt social circles, but it is so nice to know that they are back in my life and all thanks to modern technology! We have also, this week actually, gotten ahold of the texting bug. I personally love it. Just another way to stay in touch with people! We always had text on our phones but we had to pay per text, now we have unlimited. I had a friend have a baby out of town, as soon as I found out she had the baby, I texted her to tell her congrats. She sent me a pic! I had just gotten text the day before. I never would have done that before text but am so glad we have it now! I used it in the store and didn't have to hang up on someone when I got to the cashier. I just put my phone down till I was done checking out. I wasn't rude to the cashier or to the person I was having a conversation with. I hate when people are on their phones and a cashier is checking them out at the store. Plus, it was easier to get what I needed instead of trying to talk on the phone and getting sidetracked in the store and forgetting something. Yes, that happens to me if I am on the phone. I love this thing called texting!! So back to blogging, yes, I do tend to go off track, but I do love modern technology! I am so happy to be blogging and hope that friends and family will especially follow my family blog to maybe get a glimpse into the happenings of the Horton/Gordon household! Love and blessings!