The Boys Of Summer: Dutch Treats

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 Cocaine Princess here.

What comes to mind when you hear “The Boys of Summer?” Baseball? That black and white video from the 80's? For me it means:

14 year old twins
a 12 year old
a 3 year old
a 7 month old

Count the above. The total is 5 right? The above mentioned are spending the summer with sister and I, and when I say "spending the summer" I do mean for the entire summer. They arrived from Houston, Texas on Saturday and will depart back home near Labour Day.

So why are 5 boys staying with us? They and their parents are very near and dear close family friends of ours. Both parents are medical doctors and will be teaching at a medical seminar at the university in the city, and while they are doing their teaching thingy their precious boys will be staying with us.

My house has officially become testosterone central.


It’s been quite an adjustment these last few days. Usually the house is so calm and quiet. I'm use to the quietness and having my privacy but with our summer guests that’s not the case anymore. My quietness and privacy have been thrown out the front window until September. I really don't mind. The house has become so alive and incredibly vibrant and I welcome this warm and lovely change with open arms. For starters, at every meal every chair at the kitchen table is now occupied by a blond blue eyed male and there’s even a high chair! Housekeeper has moved in with us also to help out and let me tell you she’s been having a grand ole time cooking and cleaning for 7 people. Hmm, make that cooking for 6. I don't eat that much.


The twins and the 12 yr old took no time at all settling in and making themselves feel at home. When they saw the satellite dish all they wanted to know was one thing:


“You guys pick up ESPN?”

“Probably,” I replied.


I don’t ever watch the channel. The soccer games are shown on another station. Apparently we do pick up ESPN along with 10 other sports related channels I wasn’t aware of.


Remember where I just wrote: the twins and the 12 yr old took no time at all settling in and making themselves feel at home? The twins are sharing a room and they must have packed in their suitcases hundreds of magazine cut outs because one side of the bedroom wall is plastered with pictures of scantily clad actresses. The 12 yr old who has his own room has put up pictures of various sports athletes and believe me if I could tell you who they were I would but I didn’t recognize any of them. And no, there is no picture of David Beckham.


Then there is the 3 yr old. What an enthusiastic little guy! So bright and always asking questions. His older brothers refer to him as squirt and tease him to no end but I suppose that’s normal since I too was teased by my sibling. What am I saying, she still teases me!


And last but not least: the baby, who I refer to as butterball because truly that's what he is. He’s so round and pudgy. The first couple of days he was a little hesitant in allowing me to pick him up. When I would he'd begin to fuss and cry but now that he sees my face everyday that’s changed. His nursery is right down the hall from my bedroom. In the mornings before I go for my run I find myself going into his room to tickle his tummy and to blow him a kiss.


Monday I went to bed pretty late, it was close to 2am and before going to my room I made a trip into the nursery to take a peak at him. Oh my goodness! Baby Butterball was sound asleep wearing a creme colored romper and sucking away on his soother. I had this sudden urge to want to pick him up and kiss him and so I did. I carefully, and making sure I wouldn’t wake him up I plucked him out of the crib and softly kissed him a few times on the forehead......Okay it may have been more than a few kisses because unfortunately he woke up. Oops! Hey who knew my sweet latin smooches would have disturbed his slumber! I tried cradling him back to sleep with no luck. There’s a baby monitor in the nursery and the 2nd unit is in housekeeper’s bedroom. Well, she came racing in and taking the baby from my arms she said in a very stern voice:


“I hear you on monitor. You woke up baby– why?”


Before I had a chance to answer she promptly ordered me out of the room! No worries, she was able to get the butterball back to sleep in no time. But I did hear her say this to the babe:


“Missy Jr. is bad for waking you up.” 


There’s no teenage drama nor is there any teen angst among the the twins or the 12yr old. I truly enjoy their company and having them around the house. At first I thought I was going to have a hard time telling the twins apart but thankfully one of them has a tiny freckle under his eye and the other doesn't which has made things so much simpler. All are well behaved, well mannered, polite, have a great sense of humor and are very easy to get along with but...... yes there is a but.......but they do have a cheeky side. Here’s an example:


The brothers from Houston have a dual heritage. Their father is Dutch and their mama is Icelandic. {Something funny: the 3yr old has trouble saying the word Icelandic so the 12 year old taught him to say this: “I’m half icicle.”} Anyways, like me they too are obsessed with the World Cup. Who are they rooting for? Team Orange!! Last Friday Holland played against The Samba Kings. A few days before I told the twins on the phone Brazil was going to win. To be honest my exact words were: Brazil is going to beat the shorts off of Holland. I even went as far as to say Brazil was going to win the golden statue. Well, we all know the outcome of that particular match. Saturday night when they arrived the boys came not only wearing their Orange jerseys but they came bearing gifts. "Dutch treats," they said. See pics below: 


Gift #1: A dolly wearing a traditional Holland outfit and with it came a tiny note that read: “Sorry for your loss” Love, XXXXX, XXXXX, & XXXXX.

  

She even comes with wooden clogs:

Gift #2: A key-chain with an orange soccer shoe, several little Holland flags AND can you see the shiny item to the left?

Here is a close up:

It’s a mini replica statue of the World Cup to indicate Team Netherlands will take it home. When they played the semi-finals on Tuesday against Team Uruguay, during the team's national anthem they requested I stand with them and I did. Even the squirt joined in on the fun! He climbed onto one of the twins' back and was waving a tiny Holland flag. When the match began they all began chanting HUP HOLLAND HUP! I questioned what that meant?

Hup Holland Hup is a Dutch football song. They proudly sang it to me in Dutch and then in English:

Go Holland Go {Hup Holland Hup}
Don't make the lion look foolish

Go Holland go
Release the animal

Go Holland go
Don't let them take you back

Because the lion wearing football shoes
Can take on the whole world

My house was pandemonium central with all the cheering when it was announced their team made it to the finals!! My God I just had a random thought: I can't imagine what Sunday will be like in my house if the Netherlands win the final match!

Just as they have a cheeky side the boys have a soft side too. Anyone who knows me will tell you I love the James Bond movies. Out of all the actors to portray the OO7 agent, Roger Moore is my ultimate favorite. My top 3 James Bond films: 

The Spy Who Loved Me 

Octopussy 

A View To A Kill


And so they bought me another gift:

How awesome! The game features the official 007 movies from “Doctor No” to “Quantum of Solace.”

There are 6 pewter game pieces: Zorin's Airship, Poker Chip, Q Boat, Octopus, Moon Buggy and Moonraker Shuttle: 

  
Instead of 'Community Chest' and 'Chance' cards, you get 'Bond Allies' and 'Bond Enemies' cards, with a Card Decoder to reveal your fate.

'Bond Allies'

 'Bond Enemies' 

You place the card decoder on the opposite side of the card to reveal the message.
I couldn't get a clear shot but it says: Advance 2 spaces and collect 150 pounds.

The 'Railroad' stations have been replaced with 'Octopussy's Circus Train', 'Orient Express', 'Pendolino Train' and the 'Janus Armored Train'.

The money is in British currency, but all notes have a Bond character pose on them.

The game board is customizable with over 50 Bond locations and by using the removable labels every game can feature different locations.

 We opened it up one night and played a round. Sheesh, I can't remember the last time I played a board game. We all had a lot of fun.

So, which out of the 6 pieces did I choose?

Zorin’s Airship of course!! 

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WORLD CUP 2010

Tomorrow there is another soccer match for 3rd place:

Uruguay vs. Germany

Sunday July 11th is THE BIG GAME where we shall see who will be crowned the winners: TEAM ORANGE or TEAM SPAIN.

My lovelies check back here on Sunday for a special World Cup post.

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My loyal and dear readers it's finally Friday.

Whatever your plans are have a fabulous weekend.-x
 

XOXOXOXO,
Cocaine Princess