EZ has his priorities straight

Benjamin and cousin Ez went to the beach for a few hours today. It was only about an hour from DC -- and while it wasn't the prettiest beach we've ever been to -- it was a great day trip.

But one of the highlights of the day, was cousin Ez teaching Benj a little about sports.

They stink! from bnzvideo on Vimeo.

Benji's First Days of "School"

Benjamin started his transition to "school" (daycare) this week, spending 2 hours on Wednesday and 4 hours on Thursday with his teachers and new friends at Bright Horizons East End.

The report Dan received when he picked Benji up on Wednesday was "a typical first day," which, we're pretty sure was code for he cried a bit (not entirely abnormal for Benji...). But, he didn't cry when we left him in the morning, and he wasn't crying when Dan got there to pick him up, so it couldn't have been too bad!

On Thursday, Dan received a glowing report from Ms. Iris (his main teacher) who said Benji had an excellent day, even slept for about an hour, and that he was likely ready to do a full day rather than continue the 2-, 4-, 6-, 8-hour transition. We were very excited to hear he did well (though we really had little doubt he would) and were also relieved that we wouldn't have to figure out the logistics of short days next week as well (when Dan goes back to work and has jury duty!).

Friday is Benjamin's 4-month check up where he will get measured and weighed, as well as receive another round of shots. This should be an excellent way for Dan to spend his last day of paternity leave! We are also hoping to get the go-ahead to start introducing cereal and additional solid (pureed) foods. We will post the vital statistics over the weekend.

A few pics from the last week are in the album below.

Early September Misc. Pics

Pardon the interruption

Sorry for the long delay between our postings... it's been a crazy few weeks. Where to begin?

While its no longer breaking news generally, there's exciting news in the blogosphere. Our kitchen is renovated, we've cooked up a storm, but now... there's a very different sort of bun in the oven. That's right! On or about May 24, 2009 -- our blog will be getting a new staff writer. The writing skills may take some time to develop -- but we're convinced that we're making a good new addition to the blog. Photos are below.


Above, you can see the baby waving! The other photos show other angles of the little tyke.

As for other developments from the past few weeks -- stay tuned! There's more to come. But no more babies!

Poor Jeb.

(It's been an unusually busy day for the staff of Just Bloggin'. To put this post into context, see the posts below.)

Jeb speaks on school-voucher ruling.
(http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/09/jeb-speaks-on-s.html)

Former Gov. Jeb Bush has ended his long silence Wednesday over the school-voucher amendments the Florida Supreme Court struck from the November ballot.

"It is extremely disappointing the Florida Supreme Court ruled today to deny millions of Florida voters the right to make their voices heard on improving the quality of education in our state," Bush said in a statement released by his foundation.

"Florida is facing serious challenges. Our economy experienced its first quarter of negative growth in 16 years. Tax revenues are declining.

“Now, more than ever, Floridians should have a voice in determining – not just how much they are taxed – but how their tax dollars are spent."

Bush suffered one of his greatest political defeats in January 2006 when the high court ruled his Opportunity Scholarship voucher program ran afoul of the state Constitution's requirement for creating a high-quality free public school system.

Amendments 7 and 9 were designed to erode that constitutional underpinning of the court's action ,as well as striking language prohibiting state funding for "sectarian institutions" that a lower court had also used to rule against the vouhcer program.

Supporters have argued the amendments were needed to protect other specialized voucher programs for disabled children or those sponsored by the private sector.

But although the amendments were drafted by former Bush staffers, the former governor himself has kept mostly mum on the subject.

"Amendment 9 would have empowered Floridians with the ability to ensure their tax dollars were spent in the classroom on people and programs that make a difference in student achievement – a principled fiscal policy that becomes increasingly important during these tough budget years," Bush continued.

"Perhaps even more heartbreaking is the realization that Floridians will not have the opportunity to protect important programs, including the McKay Scholarship for students with developmental disabilities and Corporate Tax Credit Scholarships for students in low-income families. These programs, as well as 350 charter schools in our great state, will remain in limbo, under the real threat of litigation from individuals who want to centralize all education decisions within government bureaucracies."

Victory in Florida!

An update from Florida. (See below for an earlier posting on the subject).

This afternoon, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Ballot Initiatives Nos. 7 and 9 (which would allowed the voters to approve changes to the religion and education clauses of the Florida Constitution) were unconstitutionally proposed by Florida's Taxation and Budget Reform Commission.

For a copy of the order, click here.

Florida Happenings

On September 3rd, the Florida Supreme Court heard oral argument in Ford, et. al. v. Browning, a case which seeks to remove 2 ballot initiatives from the November 2008 ballot. The proposed initiatives would amend the Florida Constitution to allow public funds to be used for religious purposes and to allow private/religious school voucher programs. Dan has been working with the National Education Association and the Florida Education Association to try and get these ballot initiatives kicked off the ballot. For copies of the briefs -- click here.

Hopefully, we'll have a decision soon! And a video link to the oral argument should follow as well...

UPDATE: While I'm having trouble posting the video directly, click here to see the argument in windows media player, or click here to see it in real video. Don't expect to see Dan, though. He was in DC watching it online.