Birthdays and Bluebonnets

The consensus on the census is that it is poorly worded. And racially inadequate. And in my case, rather anticlimactic at the end. Because at the end, it just provided places for names and birthdays....none of the racial questions or such nonsense.....like they were saying, "Sorry - we just don't care, anymore." Which is so sad because isn't that how it goes for these "last kids?" You know, they're the ones who get by without baby books, huge birthday parties, hand sewn Halloween costumes, and baby swimming lessons because Mom says, "That stuff was all rather silly and time-consuming, now wasn't it?" And then you fill out the census and by the time you get to the 5th kid it says, "All those other questions were rather silly and time-consuming.....just jot down the name real quick...there now....good enough!"

But WHAT IF my last child was fathered by a Native American or an Irish Samoan or a Hispanic Norwegian or combination thereof? Ha! Now I guess you'll never know, will you Census People? That's right, I'm sticking it to the man. Possibly. I'll never tell.

Now then - for your viewing pleasure - I'd like to present pics from our front pasture. Enjoy our Texas Wildflowers....wish you could smell them. Our fields are mostly Indian Paintbrushes and Bluebonnets (state flower). And the best part? Is that pretty much all the fields around us look the same way or more spectacular. When we're driving along the country roads we take to get to various lessons and activities....we can tell by the brake lights of the car up ahead that we might be coming to a particularly lovely spot. Some of the fields literally take your breath away! Our field ranks up there (people are taking pics out here every day) but it definitely isn't the prettiest we've seen.

Now onto Stage 2 of the post (stage 3 if you count the census nonsense at the beginning). Jasper turned 6 on Tuesday!! And I was prepared for the usual gang-o-kids to come over and grind cupcakes into the one area rug I own. But then Jasper surprised me by saying he'd rather go out to eat.

Because I already feel badly that his parties do, in fact, pretty much consist of little boys grinding cupcakes instead of the humongous orchestrated themed things his siblings enjoyed, I was like, "Are you sure? I don't mind. Really. It will be fun!!!" And inside I was secretly relieved because Monday is the Day That Everyone Comes Over because Ellie teaches piano all morning and then all the Odyssey teams are here for the rest of the day and Tuesdays are kind of my recovery days.

But Jasper assured me by saying, "My friends annoy me!! Why would I want them here on my birthday?"

It is hard to argue with that. And Jasper is easily annoyed. He pretty much wants to sit on the ground and play with his Legos or stuffed animals in peace. He does have a couple of really cute little guys who like to hang with him, and he does consider them his friends, but like Ellie, he really doesn't feel the need to be plastered to anybody socially. He's a loner, pure and simple.

His little friend, Ben, is the kid he likes the most. He's also the kid who irritates him the most. In Jasper's defense, Ben's typical facial expression is identical to Jack Nicholson's when he bursts through the bathroom door with an ax in The Shining. In Ben's defense, it is extremely entertaining to watch Jasper when he's irritated.

Jeff took the afternoon off of work and we headed to the San Antonio Riverwalk to celebrate Jasper's birthday. By the way - check out how peaceful this tourist attraction is. Yeah Baby! One more thing to love about homeschooling! The Riverwalk on a Tuesday afternoon before school has let out and the tourist season has begun.....nice. Nobody got knocked into the river by a guayabera-wearing man wielding a light-up margarita bong. That would have annoyed / irritated the holy bejeezus out of Jasper, believe me.

Finally, here is the Birthday Boy Himself at the Rainforest Cafe, home of the world's most expensive microwavable food....where you can order the exact same convenience food you currently have sitting in your own freezer and pay out the a$$ for it because of the dancing gorilla behind you. We don't do stuff like this very often - but Jasper had like the best day of his life so yeah....thanks for the frozen pizza, Rainforest Cafe! Sorry we only ordered water, by the way. Really. I. Am. Because I would have enjoyed a $15 watered-down wine margarita.

So The Baby is six. But he is definitely still The Baby. And I sincerely worry for his future partner....if he chooses to accept one. To her I'd like to say, "I did the best I could. Mostly, anyway. Because I got pretty tired there near the end. Just do what he says and nobody should get hurt....Also? He might be half Korean Puerto Rican."

Signing off as Jasper's Sardine Mama.....Always