Thursday, November 13, 2008
Roaster
After ~30 hours, the ~1000lb beast of a coffee roaster is on terra firma. The engineering involved in getting it from the truck into the basement involved ancient and modern technologies. It was rolled on dowels Egyptian style, it was lowered down a set of stairs through several redundant pulley systems. We converted the stairs into a slide for this purpose. We created a sled for the roaster. I got quite good at descending and ascending this rather steep wooden slide... photos to follow.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Which one?
Our little Ben has decided he needs to know our opinion on every single thing. And it's always in the form of "Which one is better?"
Some examples:
"Which is your favorite car?" [referencing his obsession with the Cars movie characters]
"What do you like better, burritos or pizza?"
This is endless from when he opens his eyes at 6:40am to when he finally falls asleep at 9:06pm.
The best was, "What do you like better, the crust or the cheese?"
My response that he was having none of was this, "I like crust a little and I like cheese a little and I like sauce a little. But when you put it all together I like that way better."
"But Dad, which one do you like better?"
"I like it all Ben."
"But which one?"
... ahh kids.
Some examples:
"Which is your favorite car?" [referencing his obsession with the Cars movie characters]
"What do you like better, burritos or pizza?"
This is endless from when he opens his eyes at 6:40am to when he finally falls asleep at 9:06pm.
The best was, "What do you like better, the crust or the cheese?"
My response that he was having none of was this, "I like crust a little and I like cheese a little and I like sauce a little. But when you put it all together I like that way better."
"But Dad, which one do you like better?"
"I like it all Ben."
"But which one?"
... ahh kids.
Monday, April 14, 2008
soup
Max says, "I want to be soup." Then he grabs all the pillows and cushions from the couch, makes a huge pile and dives in. "Ben, let's be soup!" says Max.
"Time for dinner!"
"Not now... I need to be soup."
That is our lives these days.
"Time for dinner!"
"Not now... I need to be soup."
That is our lives these days.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Five x Two
Five years, two wheels. Yesterday he could scoot, today he can ride!
I mean seriously... every description of why you want to be a dad highlights this day. Ben makes a very particular facial expression when he is proud of what he is doing. He couldn't stop making that face. His dad is also rather proud of him.
I mean seriously... every description of why you want to be a dad highlights this day. Ben makes a very particular facial expression when he is proud of what he is doing. He couldn't stop making that face. His dad is also rather proud of him.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
FIVE
Consider five years of anything. That's more than the time between high school and wrapping up your undergraduate degree. For some people... ahem... it's enough time to move three times.
It's also enough time to go from a little 7 pound crying blob that can randomly move muscles and poop to one that can balance on two wheels and say, "Daddy, look at me go!"
The boy turns five in a few hours and as I watched him sleep, I saw a big yet small guy. On the one hand, he can fit in a paper grocery bag. On the other, he can jump from a high perch, run and play, successfully crack eggs into a bowl, tell stories with a plot and explain new and sophisticated concepts that show his depth of understanding about a million things. Just tonight he corrected himself when asking for a dinosaur where he started to say huge but replaced the word with gigantic. Understanding these two simple words isn't what excited me but instead his interest in elevating his speech with specific detail I thought was kind of cool.
The boy had his party today. A huge horde of us biked the mile to get gelato after eating homemade pizza and drinking cappuccinos and espressos. The stress of ushering half a dozen kids along Portland streets caused me to age about five years (speaking of five) just getting them there and back safely. With a bunch of parents and kids, we were our own critical mass! It actually went quite smoothly and the route was safe by all measures. He had a great time playing with his friends and I'm pretty proud of how this little soul is growing up.
He starts kindergarten in the fall.
It's also enough time to go from a little 7 pound crying blob that can randomly move muscles and poop to one that can balance on two wheels and say, "Daddy, look at me go!"
The boy turns five in a few hours and as I watched him sleep, I saw a big yet small guy. On the one hand, he can fit in a paper grocery bag. On the other, he can jump from a high perch, run and play, successfully crack eggs into a bowl, tell stories with a plot and explain new and sophisticated concepts that show his depth of understanding about a million things. Just tonight he corrected himself when asking for a dinosaur where he started to say huge but replaced the word with gigantic. Understanding these two simple words isn't what excited me but instead his interest in elevating his speech with specific detail I thought was kind of cool.
The boy had his party today. A huge horde of us biked the mile to get gelato after eating homemade pizza and drinking cappuccinos and espressos. The stress of ushering half a dozen kids along Portland streets caused me to age about five years (speaking of five) just getting them there and back safely. With a bunch of parents and kids, we were our own critical mass! It actually went quite smoothly and the route was safe by all measures. He had a great time playing with his friends and I'm pretty proud of how this little soul is growing up.
He starts kindergarten in the fall.
Friday, March 07, 2008
PuvVa me
Our little Max asks to be covered, ahem... puvva'd up with his blanket all the time. Often he will be taking his nap or sleeping when he will wake up and scream "Puvva ME!" and start crying. We don't always do this for him but when we do, he will nestle back in and go right back to sleep. It's very cute if it's your kid, which he is to me.
Another thing did his parents proud was when Ben was sad and crying because of his case of scarlet fever. Max was at the bookcase offering up books for Ben.
"This one Ben?"
"What about this one Ben?"
... and so on. Max was being so caring, like as if he was a parent trying to sooth his child. And this is coming from the younger of the two. Max often spontaneously asks for hugs and tells Ben that he loves him. Of course they argue over the same toys all day long but there are these moments that are pretty wonderful.
BTW, his blanket is usually quite filthy and stinky. We have to sneak it away from him and get it cycled through the wash/dry double quick. So he likes to be puvva'd with this fetid thing all the time.... eeeick.
Another thing did his parents proud was when Ben was sad and crying because of his case of scarlet fever. Max was at the bookcase offering up books for Ben.
"This one Ben?"
"What about this one Ben?"
... and so on. Max was being so caring, like as if he was a parent trying to sooth his child. And this is coming from the younger of the two. Max often spontaneously asks for hugs and tells Ben that he loves him. Of course they argue over the same toys all day long but there are these moments that are pretty wonderful.
BTW, his blanket is usually quite filthy and stinky. We have to sneak it away from him and get it cycled through the wash/dry double quick. So he likes to be puvva'd with this fetid thing all the time.... eeeick.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Wumdy wumdy wump wump wump
That's what Max says when he wants to slide down the stairs on his stomach. Onomotopoetically it sounds right.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Roasting
I have spent over $500 of my hard earned cash to go to a real coffee roasting class way up here in Sandpoint Idaho. It starts in 43 minutes...
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