What can I say? We were at the park and he gave me this great look and that was it. And people wonder how I’m hooked on him after all these years. 
Btw, viewing this on Flickr (where it’s larger) will show his eyes off better.
Z got a new camera for his birthday. And it’s a nice point and shoot! 
Now to just set him up with his own Flickr account. 
My mother would be so proud of me!! Tonight, my oldest son drops one of his infamous “Mom, I forgot to tell you…” lines and proceeds to tell me that he has to wear Sunday Best to his band concert. Except that he doesn’t know what Sunday Best means. And he didn’t think that it excluded wearing shorts. 
And of course, it’s late enough where we can’t really go to a store (he has to sleep or he’s a wee bit of evil) and he’s outgrown last year’s slacks. So, I get the bright idea that maybe I could alter an old pair of J’s into a pair for him. After all, they only have to work for one night. Sooooo, I spent a relatively small amount of time, used Fabri-Tac, and Viola! The job was really that easy. I was a bit daunted at first, but I felt that if it didn’t work out, I’d just have to run around in rush hour traffic tomorrow night and buy him a pair. As is, while we do our Christmas shopping I’m going to have to squeeze in the time to buy him a new pair because honestly, how can he not have a pair of slacks? Anyway, that’s my story. Oh, and in case you wonder, they don’t look half bad. I’m pretty proud of them, actually.
And no, that’s not a compliment in this instance! The band teacher at the middle school Sam goes to is rapidly getting on my “if you weren’t a teacher, I’d kick your butt for talking to my kid like that” list. Seriously. The semester is finally almost over and yet Sam still has no instrument at home. He has yet to play a note. I wouldn’t mind if he was obviously having issues, but he’s not. I mean, his grades are showing at A or B all term. He’s got nothing but good reviews from the teacher. But when he’s in the classroom he’s not getting the help. Forgive me, but as a former Band Nerd, I remember my instructors being overly attentive but not jerks. The most recent incident follows (as relayed to me by Sam, so keep an open mind):
Teacher: Okay, Sam, place your fingers in the right positions to prove you know where they go.
Sam: (fumbles because of this or that and doesn’t quite get it right)
Teacher: Forget it, just pack up your instrument
Sam: But I was trying! The instrument is heavy!
Teacher: Just pack up. (moves onto next child, repeats first statement) Good work, Student B, your fingers are perfect! (to Sam says) Well, at least she can get it right!
Is it just me, or is that wildly inappropriate for a teacher to say to a student? How is that encouraging? And if he really sucks so bad at band (this is his second instrument), why continue torturing him and why not let the parents know what’s going on? Worse, I told Sam (after listening to similar scenerios play out like this) that he could quit band. He has to move onto another art form, but I’m allowing him to stop. The teacher won’t let him stop. I just don’t understand. Does this teacher have a wish to ruin my child’s self-esteem? Is there really a point to this?
I placed a call into Sam’s counselor. I want answers and I’m tired of this. I don’t think any child should come home in tears because he just can’t get it “good enough” for one particular teacher. That’s just not right.
Zacky is being done up for surgery on Sept. 12th. It sucks. This should hopefully be the last one that he has done. Well, last major one. I don’t know if I believe it. I don’t think I really will until it’s done, healed, and proven to have worked. I feel like every surgery we go into is done with the thought of being “the last one”. And of course, it hasn’t been the last one yet. I’ll keep hoping and praying though.
I suppose I’m getting slightly ahead of myself here. From the beginning, here’s the short version. Zack complains around 5pm that his ear is hurting. At 5:30pm, J gives him some Children’s Advil and all is well. Zack falls asleep early and I go in there at around 9pm to give him his evening meds. When he lifts his head, we find blood all over. 
It was not a pretty little left ear. Needless to say I clean him up, do what we’ve done everytime this has happened previously and then put him back to bed. Friday morning I waited for the office to open, called, and found out that the doc is out of the office at 11am! So, they fit me, I rush my butt down to the school & then to the doc. It was not very much fun and then when Zack found out about another surgery, he was extremely uncooperative.
There are two ironic things about this happening. One, on Thursday I was at work joking about “eating bad fish” and calling in sick on Friday. One of my bosses told me that nothing had better happen or they’ll know that I faked it. I was only in the office from 6:45 to 9:15am. And two, on Thursday we got the notice that Zack was due for a follow up ear appt with his surgeon. What are the odds of these things happening together?