Riding Charlie

Horsin' Around today...

Some photos of us with the horses today. I rode John's horse, Charlie, for the first time ever! Tiffany (the trainer/friend) said that I needed to ride him since we have such a tremulous relationship. Ellie is my girl and I felt like a traitor being on Charlie and Sammi riding Ellie!!! But we did good, he is sooo narrow so it was weird for me, but all in all, a good morning!

Memories

I put these on Facebook but have been having such a tugging at my heart strings that I wanted to share them here.

A quick story. When John was deployed the first time (December 2004-June 2006) he was able to come home on mid-tour leave in September of 2005. The kids hadn't seen him since he'd left the country in May of 2005. They were young...Cass was 13, the twins were 10, Sammi was almost 9, and Cili was 5. Just babies. Goodness how time flies. Just typing this makes me cry.


I picked John up from the airport and whisked him away to lunch with a friend and then to a hotel for some alone time. I hadn't told the kids he was coming. I had said that I was going to my friend's house to study for a big math test (something she and I did OFTEN!) and would be very late so I was going to stay with her and go to school the next morning from her house. Aunt Maggie would be staying with them.

John and I had a lovely day but at the hotel, his body clock was still in Iraq...he was asleep by 8 (I ordered pizza and ate alone, hehe) and up at 3 AM. He made nice with the girl at the front desk and convinced her to let him swim in the pool even though it was closed. Our friend Dorothea had put champagne, candles, rose petals, and a feather boa (wink, wink) in the room. We had a jacuzzi tub and chocolate...can't ask for much more. He didn't want to wake me, though, so he went swimming. It was cute

When we got up, he was so anxious to see the kids. I, of course, was not so much...after having been the only parent dealing with all their stuff it was a nice break for me. Also, I knew that our alone time would end as soon as we picked them up from school! But I understood his need to see them. He wanted to do something special and went to the store looking for a costume to surprise them with. Luckily, Wal-Mart does holidays WAAAAY too early so they had plenty of costumes out already. He found Spiderman and thought it was perfect. But he needed red socks. We drove all over the place...Hibbett Sports, KMart...couldn't find any. At this point, I'm irritated. If you know me at all you realize that I have a little OCD/ADD, whatever you want to call it. I get an idea of how things are "supposed" to be and when someone deviates from that it just absolutely killllls me! So, I had this image of John going in, hugging the kids, them being surprised, and all that happy lovey stuff. John, though, had some other plans. So, needless to say, I was being kind of bitchy about his little plan.
Stupid, silly me. Very petty. I'm still sorry for my attitude.

So John buys a bunch of gifts for the kids' classes, coloring books, posters, sticker books...cheap stuff to give to the class. And then one gift for each of the kids. All related to Spiderman (teeshirts, etc.). We stop by Aunt Maggie's house and she has a pair of red socks...the kind they give you in the hospital with the grippy things on the bottom. Perfect. Angel was in the driveway making a sign on a sheet to welcome him back. It was awesome! Here is the finished product...

We head up to the school and walk in the front door. Russom Elementary has a big rotunda in the center of the school and the cafeteria has a whole wall of glass that looks into this area. Spiderman came walking up and the cafeteria was full of kids. You hear them completely erupt! He runs past the windows and then turns around, puts his hands on the glass and a foot...like he's going to climb up. The kids are cheering and applauding. It was so fantastic! We then go to each of our kids' classes, one at a time. I stayed outside so they wouldn't know it was their dad.

Spiderman proceeds to talk to the class, telling them he has brought them gifts. He things they are the best kids and he wants them to know it.

Then he says, "But, Spidey has a special gift for...YOU (pointing to my child)...because he thinks you are very special! And so does...your DAD!!" and he pulls off his mask to reveal himself.



Teachers were crying, I was crying. It was truly one of those moments you wished you could video because it would be shown on the news and internet for years...just a PERFECT thing.

This is why I am so sorry for my attitude. Because I would have been happy to have a normal reunion...but my goodness what we would have missed if John hadn't done something this incredible.



These are a few pictures. It was just at the elementary, Cass was in middle school and too "big" for this type of thing...maybe, perhaps we shouldn't have assumed that...but the little ones got a big treat. The photo of Keegan running and the one with John and Cili move me to tears every time I see them. Truly fantastic to see the love between a father and his children.





OK, so not really a "quick" story...but if you know me, would you even have thought it possible? I bet when you read the word "quick" before you even giggled a little bit...haha!

Miss you babe...hurry home!

Working with the horses again!

With the rain yesterday I was sooo happy to get back out to the barn today and work with the horses. Just a quick little video of Sammi and one of me working the horses. I am super impressed with Samantha, she is very good with Lady and really gets into what she's doing. She's confident and able and I can't wait to get her even more involved. She's going to be able to say that Lady is the horse she is because of the work she did with her.

Ellie needs some ground work because she gets a little stubborn so I thought it wouldn't hurt her to get some today while it was nice enough to be out. It was a good day with Samantha, just her and I. We don't get to do that often enough!

Horsin' Around

One of John's favorite things is to work with the horses. Obviously he will not be able to do that for a very long time. That doesn't mean, though, that the girls and I can't go out and play with our equine family members! Today we went out to the barn to meet up with a friend who is going to help train Lady so she's ready to hit the trails when John gets back. She is also going to help get Charlie chilled out and help me fine tune Ellie. I'm looking forward to throwing myself into horses this summer while I am out of school!! Here are some pics of the day. It's funny because when Cili rides Ellie, she can be a bit stubborn and won't do what she's asked. If I stand in the middle of the round pen, though, she will do what she's told. I have a whip handy to remind her that I'm serious but it's just to keep her alert.


Meanwhile, Samantha learned how to ground drive Lady today. Our friend and trainer, Tiffany, worked very well with her and showed her what to do so Sammi can work on her own this week. I'm excited to watch her really bond with and teach Lady to do what she wants her to do. Lady is a good girl, she just forgets she's a horse and we are people...she needs some manners! We've had her since she was 9 months old, so it's to be expected. We are her family!
Here's a little video of Cili making a course in the round pen.

He's gone...

Well, John left yesterday for a year-long deployment to Afghanistan. This is the worst time, when he first leaves. I think about all that will happen that he will miss, all that I will want or need help with that he won't be here for. He won't be around for conversations at the end of the day, or to wake up to in the morning.

A year is a long time, but I suppose as I get older they go by much more quickly. I think about how it was just a minute ago we were coloring eggs and then we did it again! He'll be home just after we color them again next year.

My eyes are burning from moments of crying. It's not a continual flow, just moments when I hurt and wish it wasn't really happening. I know he misses us when he's away, too, and that may hurt me more than anything. I can't stand to know that he is hurting. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. We need him to come home safely.

Love you, babe, hurry back!

John's OIF III Video

This is Operation Shoe Shine and other clips from John's work during OIF III. Our family group was able to collect 1,300 pairs of shoes and about $1,400 for the postage to get them all to Iraq. John made a little size board and sorted the shoes out by size. The kids and adults would come and have their feet sized and he'd give them shoes. It was an incredible experience for everyone. Meanwhile, while serving as a Medic he was able to make a big impact on those that he came in contact with. I am very proud of him!

John built the aid station that you see in this video, by hand (no power tools!). He put a red cross on the door and even built a little bird house! This aid station was about 20 miles from the city or Ur, where Abraham was born. This was during the last 6 months of his deployment with the Georgia National Guard's 48th Brigade Combat Team. That group just returned home from a year-long deployment from Afghanistan. My heart was with those families, as we knew so many that were serving again and even some whose soldiers gave the ultimate sacrifice.

As deployment to Afghanistan looms in the all-to-near future, I know that the people John meets will be better for it. Hurry back, babe! Love you so much!

Family Portraits 4-12-10, by alesia o'keefe

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Welcome, Spring!!

Yes, it's been awhile...I recognize this. I know my weaknesses, let's not rub them in, shall we??

We've had a lot going on in the past few months so I'll get right to the point. I had my surgery on December 9th, 2009. It's been almost 4 full months and I have lost about 56 pounds! As you see from the top photo, I've changed a bit!

John's getting ready to leave...again...this time to Afghanistan. He'll be gone for a year or so and we are very blah about the whole thing...ok, I am very blah, I don't want to see him go and quite frankly, Afghanistan scares the hell out of me. There. I said it.

Here he is with two of his sisters who came to visit for his birthday (which also happened to be Easter Sunday!).

His nephew, Josh, is happy to be in the background!

We had family up for the holiday weekend and it was really fabulous. John's sister Kathy came. Her son, Brian, came with his wife, Lori and their son, Aidan. John's sister Maggie and her hubby Steve, their grandson, Sklyar, and their son Josh and his girlfriend, Angie all came to visit for a long weekend. I have missed having family around and enjoyed their visit more than I can tell you.

We had a fun Easter egg hunt with Aidan and our Cecilia...the two that qualified as young enough to hunt eggs. Sammi and Lori helped color the boiled eggs and loved getting their fingers blue, purple, pink...a serious rainbow!

We had a great big Easter feast that was absolutely fabulous. I loved having family around and seeing the smiles and hearing the laughter and conversation. This is what I miss about having family around. I miss my family and I miss his. Sniffle...

We also celebrated John's birthday. He turned 47 on Easter. We got him a horsey cake that he seemed to enjoy!

John also enjoyed spending the days out with the horses and showing his family his world there. It was fun for everyone to get to hang with our critters!

You can see more pictures Family Visit April, 2010'>here!

Oh my what a slacker!!!

Ok, so I apologize for not posting in such a long time!! I didn't realize it had been since school started in August! We have a lot to catch up on!

I started Grad school and have been very busy taking classes in order to get my Masters of Arts in Teaching. I go to school twice a week for 5 hours each day. I have also been teaching in a 2nd grade classroom full time up to this point as a long-term substitute. It has been VERRRRY crazy for me!

The kids are great. Everyone is doing well in school and John has been getting ready for another deployment. We don't look forward to another year without him, but that's his job and we support him in it.

I had a gastric bypass on December 9th. Most of my life right now is centered on watching weight fall off of my body. Everyone has been super supportive! I am still on a liquid diet and am moving to soft foods for a month, but it is so worth the end result. The pictures that show up on this blog will hopefully show a transformation.

Today John and I went riding at Kyle Lake. We have never been out together with the horses because he usually takes the girls, well Cecilia really, when he goes and when I go it's with one of my friends. So it was a nice fun date today to go riding. We wanted to be careful since my surgery was less than two weeks ago, but it was such a beautiful day (60 degrees!) that I couldn't resist going. I haven't ridden in quite awhile because I have been so self-conscious of my weight. I felt bad getting on my horse as big as I was. Well, I have lost 20 pounds so I decided to go ahead and get back in the saddle. I love riding Ellie, she's a good girl and isn't spooky at all. John and Charlie ride flawlessly, too, so it was a nice ride. John took us into some brush off the trail and we picked our way through, but Ellie got tired of the bramble, trees, and thorny bushes and finally just turned around and headed out! She wasn't responding to me so I told John we were headed out to the open and he and Charlie reluctantly followed!

It was a beautiful day and a wonderful date with my hubby! I had minimal discomfort and I know it will only get better from here on out! Here are some photos of recent activities, including the Nashville Zoo trip in November (Keegan, Sammi, and Cili went with me), and today's horseback riding adventure.

First Day of School

Can you even believe that I have 2 more in high school?? (The PC answer is, "absolutely not, Alesia, there is no way you are old enough to have kids that old!")

Well, thanks for the compliment, but I do, in fact, have 2 more in high school this year. And quite the crazy lot they are, too!

The twins were up an at 'em, ready to go bright an early Thursday morning. Keegan was loving his green shoes and Connor felt cool that his friends and he had all decided to wear black shirts and khaki pants. Silly boys. Their friends came to meet up with them and off they skipped to the bus stop. Don't tell them I told you about the skipping, they'll deny it, but I promise I saw skipping. Oh, wait. Maybe that was me!

Samantha is in 7th grade this year. Geez. Such a fabulous little teenager. Not technically but she will be at the end of September and she's practicing to be perfect at it now. She's excited to be alone in middle school without her brothers there to overshadow her. It's so great to see the kids become their own people and make their own reputation.

John started 4th grade this year. Or maybe that was Cili but John sure looked lovely in the pink backpack...Cili was excited and really loves her teacher.

The kids came home from school and we spent about 2 hours listening as one-by-one they told their stories of the day. It's funny because Cili will tell us all the great things about her class and the stuff her teacher did last year and will hopefully do this year. Sammi talks about how her teachers look. Keegan can't even tell me some of his classes, he's apparently happy he stayed awake. He remembered every silly, stupid thing that his PE coach said, though. Oh, and he got put in one of his alternate classes, piano, and seriously hates it. Something about his mom playing and teaching piano (but not my own kids!) should make him want to learn a bit but he doesn't want to. I told him he had signed up for his alternates and I wanted him to stay in the class. He is also looking forward to JROTC.

Connor has a very social school year starting. One of his teachers said (according to him, anyway) that she was glad to have him in her class because he'd bring a lot of interesting arguments. Does that tell you how he started that class? Yeah, me too. But really, he told more stories of people than school so hopefully everything went well.

Samantha went on about which of her girlfriends were in her class and which teachers are fruitcakes and how much her teachers from last year were happy to see her. She's fabulous. She can't believe that I am not substituting her Geography class because she hates the long-term sub in that class. She said since I love geography so much I should go threaten to punch them in the face if they don't let me teach it. Silly girl. Love her.

Cili is the lucky one (in my opinion) who gets to have her mom and dad take her in to class. I guess I only get to do that for a couple more years and then they won't need me anymore for that. Boo. But it's fun to go in and watch her interact with the kids in class as she's getting settled. I know a lot of the kids in her class from teaching at the school for the last couple of years. It's great. She is looking forward to the year and she has a great teacher!

After we got the kids dropped off we went to eat and then, well, the car fire blog explains it all.

Have a great year kiddoes!!!