World Cup Fever: It Is All OVER in NL

Here is Arnie with his Wuppie and his miniature World Cup trophy. This picture was taken after the Dutch lost against the Portuguese (which was more about putting on a theatrical performance than football - I am not bitter at ALL). He was a bit tense, as was the match, so I tried to help by making him double ... or perhaps triple vodkas (with bitter lemon) which might have something to do with why he looks so happy in this photo DESPITE the recent loss. :) We have packed up all our ORANGE stuff into boxes for the next WC in South Africa. It was a sad day in Holland ... but at least they went home with a BANG and put up a good fight - literally - it was truly an awesome game.

Congratulations - Gefeliciteerde Michael & Chantal

We have a new baby boy in our family!

Wij hebben een nieuwe babyjongen in onze familie!

To see the FIRST official photos of Jaimy click here

Om de EERSTE officiële foto's van Jaimy te zien klik hier.

• June 27th 2006 @ 16:00, Jaimy was born
• 27 juni 2006 @ 16:00, Jaimy was geboren
• Weight: 3.2 kg
• Gewicht: 3,2 Kg
• Length: 50 cm
• Lengte: 50 cm

This is excellent news - Jaimy was born happy, healthy and cute as ever. Above is the wooden stork and carriage that Pa made to announce the baby's arrival - a unique tradition in Holland so all the neighbours are informed about the arrival of a new baby. It looks like he had a busy summer with various woodwork projects.

Dit is uitstekend nieuws - Jaimy was geboren gelukkig, gezond en leuk zoals ooit. Hierboven zijn de houten ooievaar en het vervoer dat Pa maakte om de aankomst van de baby aan te kondigen - een unieke traditie in Holland zodat alle buren zijn geïnformeerd over de aankomst van een nieuwe baby. Het kijkt als hij had de bezige zomer met diverse houtbewerkingsprojecten.

World Cup Fever: We Present the FIFA Cup

First, a bit of FIFA World Cup history ...

The real WC trophy is NEVER permitted to leave the FIFA headquarters in Switzerland. It is 36 cm high, made of solid 18-carat gold , with a base containing 2 layers of semi-precious malachite. There are 2 official REPLICAS that are gold plated: the first is awarded temporarily to the winning team until the next tournament begins and the second is used for various events, interviews or photo shoots around the world.

In the fall of 2004, Arnie picked up one of these famous REPLICAS in Geneva at the FIFA Headquarters, for a long flight to Brazil where it was presented in one of his organised events. You could say it was the highlight of this occasion with a huge line up of participants waiting to have their photo taken with this spectacular trophy. Everywhere he went, he was accompanied by armed guards: to the event, in the hotel and at the airport until he boarded his flight. He even had an armed convoy that escorted him to and from the airport to ensure it was safely transported.

THESE pictures, in THIS posting are dedicated to the fine memory of a fun-filled weekend spent with this world famous trophy - it stood proudly in OUR living room for a solid weekend and we had great fun pretending it was ours. For all of you MAJOR World Cup fans out there, these are AUTHENTIC pictures of one of the two REPLICA World Cups ... the very same one that is kissed and hugged by football heroes from around the world.

The following pictures come to you live ... FROM OUR LIVING ROOM!!!!

World Cup Fever: Behind & Inside Our Place

Holland has WORLD CUP fever - the country is covered in ORANGE - the colour of our Dutch team. Below are some examples, close to home to give you a taste of the FEVER!

Here is a neighbour, in our shared parking lot, who proudly displays this G-I-A-N-T ORANGE cow on his car.

This just cracked us up - don't the pictures just speak for themselves.

Next in the FEVER is the WUPPIE craze which started at the local super market - when you get 3 little wuppies, you can exchange them for 1 giant ORANGE wuppie. They were sold out within the first week. Wuppies are now on the internet at extortionate prices, being stolen from cars and you could hear the heart-breaking sobs of children who missed out on their wuppies - UNBELIEVABLE!! We scored ourselves 2 - one for each of us so there would be NO fighting (we are small children at heart). Our wuppies are well-trained and seemed to really enjoy football (soccer for my North American viewers).

Don't believe me, have a look: above I have captured our wuppies watching their favourite team (the ORANGE guy flying across the TV screen is a Dutch player)Here is Arnie giving the thumbs up after our 1st goal.

Here I am above in my green & ORANGE Heineken hat that doubles for a bullhorn (very useful for during the game when you want to shout at the referee - WHICH WAS OFTEN). Lastly, is Arnie dressed in ORANGE (in support of his team) and drinking his sangria (which might explain the face and our lively wuppies). We were in Barcelona a few weeks earlier and were still drinking/craving sangria in memory of our FAB-UU-LOUS sangria-filled weekend. Those pics will be up when I catch up on stuff.

Dank Je Wel Voor Mijn Bureau - Thank You For My Desk

Arnie and I have been desperately searching for a modern desk for our living room so Bubbles would have a place to put her ever-growing piles of "stuff". We have explored every furniture place within a 1 hour radius and came up empty handed, with the exception of one designer store which had a VERY chique, but very unaffordable desk. We took photos and some general measurements so Arnie could create some rough designs. Then one amazing afternoon, during a visit with Pa & Ma these designs were exchanged, followed by the generous offer from Pa to build it for me. Below ... I present ... MY NEW DESK!!!!

Arnie en ik heb gezocht naar een modern bureau voor onze woonkamer zodat Bubbles een plaats hebben om haar altijd groeiende stapels van "materiaal" te zetten. Wij hebben elke meubilairplaats binnen een 1 uurstraal onderzocht en op lege overhandigd, met uitzondering van één ontwerperopslag gekomen die ZEER chique, maar zeer onbetaalbaar bureau had. Wij namen foto's en sommige algemene metingen zodat kon Arnie tot sommige ruwe ontwerpen leiden. Dan één verbazende middag, tijdens een bezoek met Pa & Ma werden deze ontwerpen geruild, gevolgd door de grootmoedige aanbieding van Pa om het voor me te bouwen. Hieronder... ik stel... MIJN NIEUW BUREAU!!!!

This is a special posting to thank Pa for all this hard work for my much treasured desk which I proudly display above (and everyday in our home). It is gorgeous and shiny with loads of cute cubby holes for my laptop and papers ... oh ya ... it also has PLENTY of drawers. I was truly speechless when I first laid my eyes on my new desk. It is by far, much more beautiful than the model we saw in the designer store. It even has a built in hydraulic system so the desk cover slowly descends without any assistance - tres cool!! I JUST LOVE IT and it looks awesome in our living room! Thank you so very VERY much - I simply cannot express the depth of my gratitude.

Dit is een speciale posten om Pa te danken want al dit hard werk voor mijn bureau dat ik trots hierboven toon (en dagelijks in ons huis). Het is schitterend en glanzend met ladingen van leuke cubby gaten voor mijn laptop en documenten... oh ya... heeft het ook OVERVLOED van laden. Ik was echt speechless toen ik eerst mijn ogen op mijn nieuw bureau legde. Het is veruit, veel mooier dan het model dat wij in de ontwerperopslag hebben gezien. Het heeft zelfs gebouwd in hydraulisch systeem zodat daalt de bureaudekking langzaam zonder enige hulp - tres koele. Ik vind het heel erg mooie en het is SUPER mooie in onze woonkamer! Dank u ZEER zeer veel - ik kan eenvoudig niet de diepte van mijn dankbaarheid uitdrukken.

Dutch Sunsets, Clouds & Skies: Part III

Also, I must share this stunning sunset which is an awesome example of those famous Dutch sunsets that I mentioned in combination with the clouds. I just love the above cloud formations in combination with the descending sun - I wanna hear from Paul and your expert photographer's eye.

Honden Poep (Dog Poop): Part III

In continuation of my honden poep signage series (dog poop) - above is a contribution to my collection from my friends on the other side of the Atlantic. Looks like NYC is trying to get a similar message out to dog owners but with slightly more direct approach than the Dutch version.