Just a tiny update

Last time.. was a bit ago. All my pixel people turned to teenagers, I set up an heir poll, and then real life showed up in a big way. (The other responsible adult in the house broke a bone, I went on a trip, our family pet of 16 years passed away…all in like a week span.) Anyway, back and trying to ease back into things. Some of these pictures were taken weeks ago and I never have my act together enough to take notes, so we’ll just see what I can remember. I think good enough.

Emrys: “So mom, how’s about teaching me to drive?”
Ember: “OMG yes! I can’t believe my little baby boy is that big though. Seems like just yesterday when you were playing with toy cars…” (It was.)

Berlin: “Sucker. I got Grampa to teach me. He’s way more chill.”

And off they go, learning to drive in matching motive mobiles. LOL They followed the same route to about this corner, when one van turned and the other went up the curve there. Ember & Emrys went to the stadium and stopped and got out. Apparently mom just could. not. even. and had to take a breather for a second or something. I had ’em try again and she stuck it out that time.

Meanwhile…
Harlan: “Hey pumpkin…you look a little pained.”
Harlowe: “Uhm, I think I’m stuck? All I want is to sit by you and do my homework, but I can’t move.”
I waited for a few but she stayed frozen, so I had to reset her. When I did, her homework was gone, so she never got to do it this night.

I believe this was Ember’s first masterpiece. Or an accidental screenshot of nothing important, which is also possible.

Otis is all grown up and I still love his face. I will likely put him (and siblings?) up on the downloads page despite him being neither heir nor spare.

Harlowe had been trying to invite Emilio over, but he kept saying no. I had her try once to invite Isidro over and he came over straight away. And awww, her face. Seriously this is the look every time she’s around him.

And they’re both loners? Okay, that clinches it. Isidro for Harlowe. They can be anti-social together. LOL

Twins both digging in to their favorite foods. Not exactly a milestone photo but you get it all the same.

The adults had gone on a vacation so I set the kids to fulfilling wishes. Harlowe wanted to make some potion, Emrys wanted to gain a logic point, Berlin wanted a part-time job.

Emrys becomes the first person since Bonehilda to autonomously play foozball.

Aw, all of Luna’s kids are teens. (L to R, oldest to youngest: Lukas, Bryon, Janie)

Darrick (the red-head mentioned in the heir poll) aged up, so I clicked to find him.. hanging out at the graveyard. Oh-kay. Whatever. Sent Berlin over there anyway so I could see if they’d work. Heart-farts say it’s likely.

Synchronized “Ghosts Are Gross” emotion. Maybe, I dunno, don’t hang in the graveyard at night? I sent her home after this, feeling I had pushed my luck vs. the curfew police quite far enough for one night.

Olga had decided to go steady with someone before Emrys could impress, so I went on  a hunt for the other option, Sheena. I found her… in the graveyard. Seriously? I mean at least it’s daytime but this is not where I’d expect the hot teen hangout spot to be. Anyway, he chatted her up for a bit, but then it was time for school.

After school, Berlin invited Darrick over because I was sick of romantic pics in the graveyard. LOL A little flirting…

And she goes in to seal the deal.

Aw, she liked it! I wonder if he did, too.

Berlin: “Are you kidding me? Look at him. He’s smitten. I got this.”

Emrys kept having circumstances pop up that had kept him from starting things up with Sheena. They hung out briefly at the playground only for the curfew police to nab him as soon as he had the flirt queued up. Then there was the chat at the graveyard in the morning, but it was interrupted by needing to go to school. Finally I found her at the gym.. with some other guy flirting at her. Nope, not today! So I hauled Emrys down there and we didn’t waste any time. LOL Fortunately, she seemed receptive.

Emrys: “So Sheena.. I was thinking it’d be awesome if you were my girlfriend.”

Nicholas: *pouts because she was just flirting with him before THIS guy swooped in*

Emrys: “So.. what do you say?”
Sheena: “Yes!”
Emrys: “Really?”
Sheena: *actions speak louder than words*
Totally didn’t count as their first kiss though, which is fine, I’ll wait for him to wish it now that she won’t be snapped up by someone else.

And.. that’s it for now. Lame short update is lame.. but at least it’s something. Hopefully the upcoming week is calmer (translation: more simming!) There’s only like 3-4 sim days until Harlowe ages up, and the twins are a weekish behind her.

Advertisements

Generation 6 heir poll

–POLL CLOSED–

She is adorable. She mostly walks around looking slightly worried, but she’s also the most likely to autonomously pop on a tabcast and pick up a skill point out of any sim I’ve had. She’s got a couple mate choices below. Isidro on the left is the only non-family sim she’s ever rolled a wish for, and also the only one she has approached to talk with. She always smiles when she sees him. Emilio on the right is the one that the game apparently really wants her with. Her first day of elementary school, she was given the opportunity to befriend him. When they reached high school, he called her up to ask her to prom (which I didn’t realize was happening LOL). I left it at romantic interest with him though because she herself doesn’t make any moves to him, and when I’ve had her try to invite him over, he has always said no. 😛

Emrys largely spent his childhood with his head in the clouds, having one imaginative fantasy after another. Now he rolls lots of wishes to discover various potions, or donate to charities, and just kicks around in his free time so far. Nothing consistent yet, and no thoughts on what he wants to do in life, but he’s got lots of time. He’s got a couple options for mate as well. On the left is Olga who was his first (non-twin 😉 ) friend in elementary school, though they drifted a bit. Now that they’re both in high school, he has noticed she’s kind of cute. And on the right is a cheaty teen-in-CAS pic of Sheena, who is about three days younger than him and thus still a child.. but not for long. I like her look. 🙂

Berlin is proving to be quite the moodlet queen LOL. She tends to gravitate towards chatting on the computer when she’s home, and rolls lots of wishes to visit the park, etc too. She tends to be chatty with people when she’s out & about. She was the first to decide what she wanted to do, setting her sights on becoming an International Super Spy when she was still a child. Like her siblings, she’s got a couple choices for mate as well.. On the left is Darrick in another cheaty teen-in-CAS pic for the same reason as Sheena above (he’s still got a day before he ages up in game but I’m impatient and didn’t want to wait, so I took him in there to peek). I love me some red-head genes. 🙂 And on the right is Alvin. They became friends at the park one day. And honestly, if Harlowe doesn’t go for Emilio, he’d be a viable option too.

So, cast your vote now! Comment, or just follow the link below to vote (I tried to embed it in the post but just could not get that to work.)

–POLL CLOSED–

And then they were all teens

This is Artie’s girl, Chandra (so, second cousin to these kids). It looks like Liam is chewing her out, but really he went to visit and she roped him into reading her a bedtime story.

Chandra: “Hi, nice to meet you. Read me to sleep.”
Liam: “Sure, kiddo.” *proceeds to make faces behind her back the whole time*

Saturday morning. Berlin is eating breakfast, Emrys is ruling over all by the chess table, and Ember & Harlan are being nauseatingly romantic.

The kids decide enough is enough of that gross kissing stuff, and both roll wants to leave and take a fishing class. Emrys doesn’t even stop to change.

Liam and Harlowe were at the park, meanwhile.

Harlowe: “Grampa, can you teach me how to drive?”
Liam: “Sure sweetie, why not? Race you to the car!”

And then Harlowe lost her mind with excitement as she ran to the street, re-entered the park, sprinted into the middle of the fountain, realized her mistake, turned around, and booked it back through the fountain to the road again. Wish I was quick enough to catch her when she was in the middle of the fountain. LOL

Berlin crushes the opposition on e-Sportball while Emrys reiterates that it’s good to be the king.

Harlowe continues to be a good big sister, with Berlin often choosing to ask her to read a bedtime story. Lilac & spiceberry everywhere here in the girls’ room. Their room reminds me of my grandma’s room. Purple was her favorite color & her wallpaper was similar to this. 🙂

I sent Emrys to the gym, figuring he’d have some fun there that didn’t involve standing on our chairs. Clearly he just used those chairs to rule from, and then I found him fishing in the swimming pool. I didn’t even know they could do that. It doesn’t show up as an option at home. He even caught something! (A toad. What is that doing in a pool? An indoor pool no less.)

His twin headed over and challenged him to a breath holding contest. She thoroughly trounced him.

And then I turned my game off for several days and forgot what everyone was doing when I turned it on again. So.. quick sim check.

Harlowe was busy walking around the house with a slightly worried look, as is the norm for her. She was headed to start up a tabcast (she autonomously does those more than any sim I’ve had. I love it. She’s at level 5 in logic & writing, level 3 in guitar, and level 1 in several more skills without me doing anything.)

Ember was in the midst of writing, as usual. I had her write a masterpiece based on her family so far titled Halfway There. (Which means that every time I click for her to continue writing, I get “Livin’ on a Prayer” stuck in my head.)

Liam, who is like 99 days old, is dressed in his workout gear and heading to the garage to pump extreme iron. He’s still constantly working out when left to his own devices.

Harlan is off working at his diner. Between actual work and “work from home”, he keeps busy.

The twins were still at the gym/pool, though Emrys had climbed out. Berlin soon followed and tagged him, declaring him it. He was all “Challenge accepted” and chased her out of the building and tagged her so hard that she rammed her head into a tree. Ah sibling competition. *hehe*

Later that night, we made a circuit of checking the spares’ houses to see which kids had aged up that we hadn’t seen yet. Luna’s youngest, Janie, is a child now, and her middle one, Bryon, is a teen. Over at Phoenix’s place, their middle child, Jean, was also a teen (who did not want to stand in good lighting, so you get a gross, shadowy pic. Sorry.)

Look at this sweet baby boy, discovering the kids’ oven all on his own!

Not to be outdone, Harlowe goes to mop up the puddle that was ignored by the maid who came, chatted with the males in the house, and then left. (First female maid we’ve had. She didn’t do jack. LOL) Anyway, Berlin better step up her game, cuz these two are in my good books right now. *hehe*

Aww, look at this! I had sent Harlowe to the library because her friend Emilio was there, but he left before she arrived. However, Isidro (the boy Berlin had seesawed with) was there and is a teen now (he’s only one day younger than Harlowe.) This is the first non-family sim that she autonomously decided to talk to, ever, and she was adorably nervous as she approached.

But she dug deep and found the nerve anyway, and they hit it off well, chatting up the virtues of lilac vs. green or something. She looked so happy that he was talking back, now I can’t decide whether to put her with Emilio or Isidro.

They all sat on the couch at the same time!! I was so excited that I turned free will off to make them stay there until I could get a picture where they were all at least sort of looking. *hehe*

A couple kids I’m keeping my eye on – this girl (Sheena) is my favorite non-family girl in town at the moment, and the little guy in the back has red hair that I love. We’ll see if puberty is kind to them.

Berlin: “Hi mommy, hi daddy, your favorite honor roll student has arrived home.”
Emrys: *eye roll*

(They have the same grade and same school performance at least that I’ve noticed. Only she got honor roll though.)

Later that night, we got the alert that Kent (Phoenix & Lily’s youngest) had aged up to child, so I grabbed Harlowe to go visit so I could see. He still looks much like his brother Otis did at his age. I honestly think I love all three of their kiddos. I’m sure I’ll end up saving them for use later. I may put them up for download even though they’re not heirs or spares, but “spares once-removed” LOL

Checking back in at home, I get there just in time to see a terrified Emrys (who had clearly been joyriding at some point), faint on the porch. Moodlets let me know it was from checking under the bed and finding monsters.

And of course I missed the curfew popup so she was still at her uncle’s at 11:15 when the curfew police came for her. Harlan tore into her and grounded her for 2 days. I made him let her off the hook because look at that face. Also because grounding means no school and I’m not about that.

I finally plunk down a chemistry table in the garage. Emrys gets busy knocking out some wishes.

Before school the next day, she gets a phone call from Emilio asking her to prom. She accepts, hangs up, and immediately freaks out. LOL Me too. I had no idea prom was coming. Also still not sure which guy I want for her. It appears she’s torn too if the freak out is any clue.

Artie & Shayla had another baby, Brandi. Big sis Chandra is not pleased.

Berlin wanted the bake stand, so we bought it and I set her to using it. Her actions/wishes continue to be all over the place, way more than anyone else in the house.

Emrys, however, is forever in the land of make believe.

Harlan, you get a cookie. You’re the first person to ever pay the trampoline any attention. (I got that pretty much as soon as Liam retired and we didn’t need the fire truck taking up space in the back yard anymore. Then everyone has ignored it since.)

Dressed up Harlowe lets me know it’s time for Prom!

Quick check on everyone before I just sit and click through Prom popups.

Emrys went home with a friend. He’s busy trying out the chairs at their house now.

Berlin didn’t bother coming home. She did her homework and then settled in with a book.

Liam: “I think I’ll go for a swim.”
Uh, you’re in the pool already, loony old man. He’s 102 now. I suppose he’s allowed his senior moments.

Speaking of moments, looks like the adults are having one. I’ll leave them to it. Off to watch prom.

-Harlowe beat out the mean girl to win Prom Queen! She was speechless and almost fainted. (I’m surprised she didn’t. LOL I imagine being prom queen is our introvert’s nightmare. LOL)
-Emilio asked Harlowe if she wanted to go steady. (She said she wasn’t sure if she was ready for that, needed time to think. aka – I clicked the x. I don’t know yet if I want Emilio or Isidro for her and I hate having to go back to old high school boyfriends to make sure you officially “just be friends” so you don’t get labeled a cheater.)

I saw Berlin finish her book and head home, so I figured I’d check in with Emrys. He’s moved on to joyriding on their couch. He’s still yet to interact with the friend (who is just pouting outside on the porch. Around 9, Emrys finally went to chat with him. I know because the curfew warning popped up then too.)

-Emilio danced & charmed his way into Harlowe’s heart and asked if he could be her first kiss. Harlowe said yes! (This I can deal with.)
-Emilio’s been getting her punch, etc all night. He’s making a good impression. (Boring update is boring.)
-Harlowe really made a good impression on Emiliow with some epic dance moves! Twice. (LOL Her updates were boring in general. Here’s hoping that the twins get one that’s not a yawn. They age up tomorrow.)

When prom ended, Lily Jacobsen called to ask Harlan on a date. Ugh. NO! Let him go, woman. You’re married, he’s married.

Grampa Liam hauls her out to train when she gets home from Prom.

Harlowe: “You’re kind of scaring me, grampa.”
Liam: “If you don’t feel like your eyes are about to pop out of your head, you’re not trying hard enough!”

She showers and brushes her teeth three times and feels better.

Ember’s totally just mailing it in with her portraits now. Turned out to be worth $694 though. Not bad.

And now, finally what I’ve been waiting for.. the twins’ birthday! They each got a cake, but both crowded around this one to cheer, which I found adorable.

One more peek at my tiny full-of-imagination man..

..and here’s teen Emrys. Hoo, someone looks like their dad. He adds genius to his list of traits.

Berlin’s turn to sparkle-spin..

..and she turns into a lovely teen. She adds Dramatic to her list of traits, which should be fun.

I made them all line up in the living room for a pic (sorry, too lazy to do poses LOL). Honestly I think the whole lot of them took more after dad than mom, which is okay. New genes are fun. I’m hoping to maybe get an heir poll up soon, as I’ve had fun playing Harlowe & Emrys both and Berlin now interests me with her new trait so they’re totally on a level field in my mind.

 

Need a Jacobsen?

Check it out everyone, I figured out how to share sims successfully (I think.) Up there at the top is a link where you can Kidnap a Jacobsen for your very own game! Right now it’s just Generations 4 & 5 heirs & spares, but I’m going to try to get all of them up there if I can find them all. I’ve saved them as young adults, with non-CC hair & clothes (I have Ambitions, Generations, and Supernatural so it might be from any of those) so I’m sure they’ll look a bit different than my in-game pics, but still. They just use my default skin & eyes (ESkin nAtural+ by Ephemera and Lonely Eyes by Shady). You’re free to doll them up your own way for your game. I’d prefer if the genetics/features stayed the same, but feel free to change traits/lifetime wishes as much as you’d like. If you do grab one and use them, let me know. I’d love to see what they get up to in your game!

Crying, caking, crashing.

Last time, a birthday party turned into a wake (RIP Melissa) but was apparently an epic time. This time, more birthdays, less death (*knock wood*).

We start out with Liam crying on the shoulder of Otis after inviting him over. (He rolled a wish to teach Otis to drive. I was excited because I love Otis – does it show? lol – so I locked it and invited him. Despite a completely full relationship bar though, the option never showed, so I’m pretty sure it can only be done with those in your house. So unfair to tease me by having that wish be a possibility. Anyway, I digress.. instead of driving lessons, Otis had to console his grieving widower grandfather.)

Harlan is at level 9 in his cooking job. If he gets to level 10, I’m totally renaming Hogan’s Diner to Harlan’s Diner.

Luna’s younger two aged up, so we went to check on them. Bryon is a child now and Janie is a toddler.

Harlowe: “Hi ho Silver Copper, away!”

My oldest kid thinks the insides of the sims mouths are creepy, so this pic is just for him.

The twinsies play with the dollhouse for most of an afternoon. Their relationship bars are pretty much maxed now.

I went to find Ember and she was wearing a top that had never appeared anywhere in her wardrobe before, and sporting a new hairdo. The hair looked nice enough on her, but I’m too used to “my” Ember, so I put it back. I’m just going to pretend she and Harlowe were playing dressup before heading out to the seesaw here or something.

Toddlers… *squishes cheeks*

Harlowe likes ’em too. She’s an awesome big sister.

Again with the tot spam. Presumably other things were happening, but I just don’t take other pictures when there are little things in the house. Look how damn pleased they look with themselves in that bottom picture.

Berlin: “You watching? I’m ’bout to totally nail this peg box, cuz Awesome is my middle name.”

Sure it’s not Humble? *eye roll*

Phoenix & Lily’s final baby (Kent) aged into toddler so Liam went to visit him. He’s a dollface! He (so far at least) looks a lot like my beloved Otis, but with Lily’s eye color instead of Liam’s. Stay cute, little man.

So one morning before school, Harlowe was a little hungry. I had her click on an apple from in her inventory and the option to Transmogrify showed up. I hadn’t seen this before, so of course I chose it. Her arm shook a little and the apple turned into a flame fruit. A little googling tells me this is likely from a hidden Pyromaniac trait. We’re just going to guess that was inherited from grandpa Liam. In any case, her flame fruit was delicious.

Ember’s out of the house down at the library to get some distraction-free writing time in. Harlan still does an awesome job keeping the twins on the same schedule.

Synchronized bottle happiness.

Harlowe ate something spicy. I just missed the steam coming out, but her worried face afterwards was adorable.

Look, I figured out how to turn off the awful full moon lighting. Bless you, Nraas. Of course, it doesn’t stop my favorite pudding face zombie from creeping onto my porch to use my rocker.

Ember got to go down and pick up an award from city hall for being the best darn writer in town. I think it said it was because she had written more than 25,000 worth of books.. but if so, that quite the delayed reaction. LOL We make about that in a week now. I think total has been over 60,000.

Still adorable? Just checking.

And it’s birthday party day! Here’s the last shots of Berlin & Emrys as toddlers, and Harlowe as a child. (Well.. sort of the last. They’ll be blowing out their candles and such.)

Emrys is up first. Cousin Otis and our face one maid help Ember cheer him on (since the other guests wandered right past the celebration.) Shimmer sparkle and oh my word, I love him. Look at his little face! He rolls night owl to add to his good, excitable self. He’s beginning to sound a lot like me. If they had a disorganized (hot mess? lol) trait he could snap up, he could get even closer.

Cousin Otis immediately teaches him how to gossip. Um, do you mind, Otis? His twin’s kind of blowing out her candles in the back.

Her turn to glimmer-spin, and then…a quick still-derping shot because Harlowe’s trying to blow out candles. Sorry, Berlin. I promise to get a better one of you soon. She rolls and becomes a computer whiz, which is not something you tend to expect from an easily impressed outdoor-lover, but whatevs.

And I need to nab some more curly hairs soon as I just realized I have nothing good for the twins to age into after this. The Sims is sorely lacking in that department.

Meanwhile, while Berlin is busy growing, Harlowe heads over to blow out her candles. Everyone finally remembers they’re here for birthdays and gathers around the cake to watch Harlowe age up. (Except newly-child Berlin who grabbed her cake slice and peaced out.) Harlowe ages up lovely, and I feel like I can see both bits of her dad and bits of her mom/grandma Melissa in her. She rolls and adds absent-minded to her good, neurotic, loner self. Emrys photobombs the corner of her teen pic and almost steals the show.

This random party-goer is some teen whose name I didn’t write down. I invited a few teen guys to kind of scope out a few options when Harlowe aged up. This guy is a few days older than I’d like for her (I try to keep them close in age), and he left before I could get her to introduce herself, but I’m still going to have her track him down and say hi. He reminds me a tiny bit of Fez from That 70’s Show. *hehe* (I’m sure at least half of that is the shirt. Bahaha..)

This little nerd is Emilio Boudreaux. On Harlowe’s first day of school (second?), she was tasked with becoming friends with him. She just made it this afternoon. I happened to think to check him.. and he’s due to age-transition today. So we’re just gonna tack him on to our party so we can see what he’d look like & if he’s worth it.

Ah, so that’s why she keeps pulling worried faces. Loner trait. I forgot. Still.. looks like Emilio is worth keeping an eye on as well. If Harlowe decides to just be friends with him, he won’t be too crazy old for Berlin.

The one teen girl who came. I know she’s old, but I’m still keeping her as a maybe for Emrys eventually. I have no sims who look like her.

Ah, here we go, finally a better pic of Berlin. Though she honestly looks pretty much like she did as a toddler.

Harlowe: “It’s okay. So many people, but just be cool. Act natural. We can do this.”

teen with giant jaw & Artie: “Weird girl is weird.”

I’ve been trying to get her to chill and just congratulate her friend Emilio on his birthday for the past 15 minutes.

So I went off to watch my darling boy Emrys instead. He’s absolutely slaying this whole royalty thing.

Berlin heads out to the teeter totter to seesaw with *checks notes*..

Isidro Gallegos. (non-relative, close to her age, definitely worth keeping an eye on)
Is: “I’m tired. Don’t you think we should maybe go to bed?”
Berlin: “No.” *unwavering, unsettlingly placid smile*

Harlowe finally got around to talking to Emilio! He’s appreciative of the congratulatory remarks.
Awww, and she actually doesn’t look terrified to talk to him anymore. LOL I’ll encourage them to be friends for sure.. maybe more.

Harlan comes home from work in normal clothes.. because he hit the top of his career track. Woot! Ladies & gentlemen, you’re looking at a Five-Star Chef. And doesn’t he look thrilled.

At the end of the party, mom & dad seem to have their wishes split pretty evenly. Harlan wants to cook everyone’s favorite meals (again), Ember wants to see her twins become geniuses. Grandpa isn’t ashamed to pick a favorite though – chat with Harlowe, give gift to Harlowe, teach Harlowe to drive. LOL Be worth $1,000,000 is his only non-Harlowe wish at the moment.

Phoenix sticks around after the party just long enough to scare his twin one more time before heading home. Despite staring at him the entire time, Ember is still somehow startled.

Ember: “I’m just shocked he didn’t outgrow this stuff yet. We are ADULTS.”

Well I vote you never change, Phoenix.

Ember: “OMG, this one is practically crawling back in my womb with all the needing attention right now. Fine, Berlin, ONE bedtime story. Let’s go, baby girl.”

And it would appear that Emrys had been off convincing his dad to read to him. And both twins then marched off to mom & dad’s bed to get these stories read to them

Still. It was muchly cute.

And then it crashed.

So no stories ever got read. I THINK I saved right after the party and won’t be out much, but it’s late and I’m not firing it back up to see. It’ll just be a surprise until next time (and we’re going to pretend all of this happened anyway, so.. *shrug*)

Now THAT’S a party

Last time the stereo at home glitched stuck on the kids station forever and ever (even once while it had to be “repaired” it was still pumping out sounds and giving people the music moodlet.) So we kept expectant Ember away as soon as we realized.

Ember stands up from her chair at the local library where she’s been mostly living these past couple days, apparently wanting to take a mental picture of her home-away-from-home.

Oh, even more exciting. It’s go time! Off to the hospital for you! Harlan, though he hates to miss work, did leave his shift to meet her there.

Aw, caught Molly & Sammy being all romantical at the park while I was waiting for Ember to have her kiddo. ❤

Meet Emrys. He’s a little excitable, but good. He rocks out to roots, will cut his teeth on PBJ, and loves green.

And also meet Berlin. (Broken stereo, you win this round. This does mean we’ve had only one generation without twins. Since her siblings both share a first syllable with mom & dad’s name, I gave her the second syllables and called it good enough. LOL) She loves the outdoors, but honestly she’s easily impressed by most things. She’s a unique little thing with her love for dark wave music, her dreams of porcini risotto, and her insistence that purple be called spiceberry.

So we bring home twins, feed them, and get all the tired littles to bed. I check wishes and find that Melissa and Liam are both trying to wish for 10 grandkids now. Haaahahahaa.. No. Not happening. Lily & Phoenix do try to do their part with a pop-up that they’re expecting another. In off-topic news, Artie has made it to “Resident” now. He may make his LTW of Surgeon on his own after all.

It would appear that somebody, whose bars are totally full, is not exactly relishing life as a big sister.

Ember, having completed all writing-related skill challenges, spends some time with Harlowe, doing her part to ensure she raises another generation of book lovers.

Aw, playing with daddy.

Melissa has determined the rocking chair to be more important than eating or peeing. Yeah, that’s right. I see you pretending like your own puddle of wizz is surprising and stinky. (And I also see you walk off without bothering to mop, or even shower off the stank. Nasty.)

Daddy & Harlowe, both working hard. 😉 When she gets this level of peg, she’ll be fully skilled. I checked how close she is to aging.. and it appears everyone in the house (except the elders) is 1 day away from aging. Looks like I’ll actually bother to throw a birthday party sim-tomorrow.

Luna & Uriah had their baby – a little girl they named Janie.

Gearing up for the mega party. I’m only buying cakes for the kids. The grownups have to settle for age transitioning during the party, riding on the coattails of the kids’ celebration.. as it should be. 😛 Except Harlan, who gets to age before the party technically starts because he has to work tonight (and as a workaholic, he freaks out if he skips.) Anyway, sparkle, spin, still much the same, and then off to work he goes. Meanwhile, family starts pouring over for the party tonight.

Berlin get brought to the cake first. She has momma’s brown hair, brown eyes like grandpa, and is quite pale. Quite cute though. I think she got her daddy’s eyebrows. It will be interesting to see who she favors more features-wise as she grows.

Emrys (I missed his sparkle as Harlowe was busy blowing out candles at the same time). He proves to be a cutie anyway, with daddy’s black hair, a darker complexion than his twin, and green eyes like his great-great grandpa Calvin (and his great-aunt Molly). I think it’s safe to say he got his daddy’s jawline.

And then when Harlowe finishes blowing out her candles, Melissa carts her out to the front stoop and heads back inside. Harlowe, good little loner that she is, is only too happy to sparkle and spin away from the crowd inside…though she rolls up Neurotic when she ages.

Having Harlowe age outside did also give me a chance to see Otis arrive on his bike finally (3 hours after school let out/party started).. still a child. So I checked how many days he has until his age transition. Zero! Looks like we’ll be buying another cake. And Lukas (shown here) pulled up not too long after him. He’s still got a bit to go though, so no cake for him. 😉

Otis heads on in where I’ve got a cake waiting for who is easily my favorite non-potential-heir. LOL

All the other kids: What?!

Enh *shrug* a simmer’s gotta be allowed their favorites. Anyway, everyone gathers around to cheer Otis on. Well, almost everyone is cheering.

So I’ve decided that Artie’s wife Shayla is kind of a bitch, as she points and snickers at my adorable Otis.

Melissa: “Ugh, I’m getting kind of tired of this.”

You and me both, Melissa. What a wench. I mean, who laughs at a kid on their birthday?

Oh. No, I guess you just meant tired of life in general, huh?

Shayla: “Ha ha, you hit puberty and your grandma died.”

Yeah, that’s right… Melissa decided to join in all the sparkling going on, but sparkles at her age just mean a date with Grim. And then Shayla decided to point and laugh again. She’s lucky she’s not at this house. She’d find herself in a walled-off pool right quick.

Happiest party on earth. (And yeah, the stupid full moon showed up. I know there’s a way to stop that lighting. I need to look that up before I fire up the game again.)

Egad, and look what it’s done to Ember. This will haunt my nightmares tonight.

At least Otis still grew up a cutie. (Bonus pic included because the afore-mentioned dreaded full moon lighting makes everything look awful.)

Otis’ little sister Jean made it just in time for him to age/grandma to die. She’s a child now and pretty cute herself.

Ember managed to moodlet-manage a few folks before they left, but even the ones I didn’t get to assured me that they had a great time. “You really know how to throw a party!” Uh… thanks? Apparently with four cakes, even a loved one dying is overlooked.

The twins missed all the hub bub, happily playing in the study while all the celebration (and drama) was going on.

And as soon as everyone left, it was time for Ember to age up.

Harlan: *toot* “Do you hear me celebrating you, honey?”

Ember: “I hear nothing else. You’re like a foot from my ear.”

Adulting, like a boss. (And back at their homes, Phoenix aged up, and Luna also aged up. Pregnancy had prevented her from doing so 2 days ago.)

Got a pop-up that Otis was getting serious about a girl. I clicked so I could go see and… awww, a cute little kiss.

And she’s cute too, and not related to him in anyway way, so I’ll allow it. Go get him, Marie.

And at this point, I went through and edited the town, deleting most of the ultra-extended family. Er, I mean, they decided to move or something. Maybe they set up a little Jacobsen commune somewhere. LOL I let one descendant from each of the gen 2 kids stick around, so the family tree isn’t totally wiped, and all of them from Basil (gen 3) were untouched. Seriously ended up ditched 3 dozen sims from the town. And then added a dozen or so new ones.

And then I didn’t save, the game crashed, and I got to do it all again. But I remembered to save this time.

Ember: “Can you say ‘Fire safety is important’, Berlin?”

Apparently no baby of hers is going to play with fire like Grandpa Liam. *hehe*

She is such a good mom to the twins though. Seriously all her wishes are hoping that they learn things, or that they age up well, or grow up a genius, or even just to interact with them. She didn’t wish this much for Harlowe. (Not that Harlowe was lacking for attention since she had adults fighting over her. She’s taking grandma’s passing pretty hard and spends a lot of time crying.)

Harlan likes the kids but mainly wishes for odd things, like to cook everyone’s favorite meals. Even the toddlers who will likely have their favorite meal spoil before they age up and are able to eat it. He has more wishes for Harlowe – chatting, being friends, things like that.

That evening, Phoenix & Lily’s final baby was born – a boy named Kent.

Harlowe, Berlin, and Emrys all playing in the living room. Apparently Berlin really gets into her play. (HA! Get it? I kill me.)

We’ll call it good for this time. Next time, Harlowe starts school, and hopefully we’ll even get all the way to some birthdays again. Can never have enough cake.

The one where she can’t go home

Last time we spent as much time on non-heir Phoenix as we did on Ember cuz he had a (stinking adorable) baby and we had none. Yet. Luna also had a baby, but he crashed the game rather than age up into his cuteness.

Well look who decided to age up – baby Lukas! I don’t know if it was restarting the game that did it, or the reset via Master Controller as suggested by somebodysangel13 in the comments, but whatever. He grew with no issues upon opening the game this time. And he looks pretty much exactly like I imagine his grandpa Sammy would have looked as a tot.

I stopped paying attention to that baby because it looks like we have our own on the way! Woot! Where’s Harlan?

Ah. Complaining about the status quo of course. Bitch & moan later. Right now you’ve got a lady to get to the hospital. Liam follows them out so that he can freak out on the porch as they drive away.

And….introducing baby Harlowe! She a good loner who likes lilac and can’t wait to eat fish & chips some day. One baby in a house full of 4 adults. Let the spoiling begin.

While pregnant, both Ember & Harlan rolled wishes to get married. As soon as they walked out of the hospital with Harlowe, they wished to specifically marry each other. So a wedding was thrown the next day, with the guest list being limited to family. Artie & his now-wife Shayla were being adorable. 🙂

Fun note: There was a bit of drama. Harlan got accused of cheating…by his sister-in-law, Lily. Apparently wayyy back when they were all teens, in the like 12 sim-hours that they were in the town before the twins visited them, Harlan & Lily must have shared a romantic glance. Never mind the fact that they’ve both been with someone else for eons, or that there was no mention of cheating when Ember was first flirting with Harlan (Lily was around for that.. flirting with Phoenix in the same room), or that Lily had gotten married first. NOW she is upset that he “cheated” on her. Ember used the moodlet manager to cure that bitchiness away because I will NOT have this wedding be ruined LOL and then I used MC to set Lily and Harlan to just friends. It kills me that it changed Harlan’s reputation from “Eternally Faithful” to “Cheater” though. I’d cheat that back if I could, too. 😛 Wouldn’t even feel bad.

Anyway, moving on.. Harlan is not pleased with the emo-haired wedding crasher who showed up.

This would have been a lovely shot if Phoenix would have ever sat down.

Melissa: “Haha, that guy showed up to a wedding in his workout gear, and stands in the way of everything!”

Yeah well that guy is your son. Why didn’t his momma raise him better than that?

It was a beautiful ceremony. Many tears, many cheers.

Time for cake! 😀

And even though the light was fading fast, they made sure to pose for a couple pics of their new little family.

They got home and Harlan was feeling a little frisky. They retired to the bedroom (twice LOL) after this.

Also, we were notified that Luna had her baby, Bryon. Or was it Byron?

Harlan wanted to max the cooking skill and to learn all the recipes, so we settled down with a tabcast and a bunch of cookbooks. Here he is, officially hitting his lifetime wish.. (though there are more recipes left, so I’m going to make him read them all anyway.) I believe this was on learning fish & chips, which he just psychically knew his baby girl will love one day.

Phoenix & Lily’s baby girl Jean aged up, so of course we visited to see her. Aww, she’s a cutie too. She also has daddy’s hair color, but those eyes.. no real idea. I think Sebastian (non-heir) way back in Generation 2 may have had them, but I haven’t seen it since.

And one more pic of Otis as a toddler because I know he’ll grow up soon and I love his little toddler face.

The fight over baby Harlowe continues. She started fussing because she needed a diaper change. I got ready to select a parent to go tend to that when I see Liam literally sprinting by in the background to get to her. He changed her and then took off running to the rocking chair (which had just been vacated by someone getting up in hopes of getting to the baby first. LOL)

Ember: “I’m married. *dreamy sigh*”

Harlan’s turn for Harlowe cuddles.

Otis is a big kid now. I’ll have to try and get a better pic. His eyes look weird here. The child stage seems to be the most awkward anyway though.

We got an alert that Artie & Shayla are expecting! (If Artie hadn’t succumbed to the basement cat glitch, he’d be in the picture too. His thought bubble is on the other side of the picnic table.)

Time for Harlowe’s birthday! It was a small one, just mom & dad watching their baby girl grow before their very eyes. She’s a cutie. She has slightly tan skin, dad’s black hair, and grandma Melissa’s violet eyes.

As soon as Melissa got home, she set to work teaching Harlowe to walk.

Ember & Harlan used that chance to reconnect. 😉 Liam & Melissa each have two wishes for grandkids just hanging out there for the past few days. Like since Harlowe was born pretty much. So I obliged.

That night, when the full moon rose, I discovered a terrifying sight – a face one zombie, irresistibly drawn to our front porch rocker.

More unpleasant sights: vomit from “unknown causes.”

Ember: “Ugh, I don’t know WHY I’m so SICK right now.”

Harlan: *rolls wish to read pregnancy book*

Book wishes all around, since Melissa wants to read to Harlowe.

After Ember makes another run to the toilet to hork, Harlan comes strolling in to compliment her on how lovely she looks. This boy’s no fool. He’s forever complimenting her when she’s pregnant (even if she has no idea yet. LOL)

Didn’t take her too much longer though. Midway through her workday, she popped into maternity gear & rubbed the air nearish her belly. I let her have her moment to aww, then had her eat & set her to reading the pregnancy book that she also wished to read.

Harlan: “ESpresso, not EXpresso, that’s right! Good job, baby girl!”

Thanks to his career in the culinary industry, Harlan is a stickler for those food-related terms.

And it was around this time that I realized something. I went to switch the stereo from what it was playing (classical) to something new (indie). However, despite the fact that the SOUND coming out of it was classical, what it SAID was playing was kids. And it continued to say kids was playing when I tried to switch it to indie (meanwhile the sound was still classical.) Turning it off didn’t stop the sound, so I have no idea whether it registered it as being off then. And thanks to the open floor plan, Ember had been sitting there being possibly doused in kids music while she read her pregnancy book. I can’t change the past, but she’s staying out of the house away from the sneaky stereo for the rest of the pregnancy.

Luna’s other baby, Bryon, aged into a toddler. He’s got his daddy Uriah’s coloring, but appears to (at least so far) resemble his big brother Lukas.

Aaaand.. skilling is done for Harlowe! Nothing left for her to do but play, be read to, and have people just generally dote on her.

Not a fantastic shot, but it’s here to remind me that Luna & Uriah are expecting their third.

Ember had stayed at the library to do her writing. Sped through three little fiction books to  knock out her wish to write 15 total novels & a wish to hit $15,000/wk in royalties. With that done (and her needs about tanked), she heads off to motive-mobile it over to the spa.

She enjoys a massage, comes out, waves hi to Artie’s very pregnant wife Shayla..

random dude: “Raaauugh! Kids are the WORST!! And you’re bringing another one into the world!”

Ember: “Whoa, settle down there, Grumpelstiltskin. I neither asked for your opinion nor expected you to have anything to do with this baby.”

Shayla: “Heh, this’ll shut him up.”

And so Shayla gave birth to her & Artie’s first, a baby girl named Chandra.

With that, everyone’s got at least one baby, and so I’m happy. I may go through soon and move out most of the super-extended family (like 3rd/4th cousins by now) to make room for some non-Jacobsens in the town again. The pickings are getting pretty slim.

Next time we should get to see Harlowe’s baby sibling, and therefore more toddler spam.

First comes love…

Last time 3 of the 4 teens aged up and the reins were officially passed to Ember. Generation 5. Halfway there. I’m making a concerted effort to not micro-manage this generation, to mainly let them free will or do things they wish for. If she doesn’t wish for babies soon though, she’s getting a nudge, because I miss toddlers. LOL

I was going to start out with Artie’s birthday, but Phoenix has a moment first. Here he is, proudly presenting his perfect private aquarium. His first fish (Lissen-tu Minnow) is inside. Out here we can see (swordfish) Inigo Montoya, (tuna) Melt, (jellyfish) Smuckers, (blowfish) Mrs. Puff, (angelfish) Gabriel, (salmon) Patty, O’Malley the Alleycatfish, (piranha) Piranhasaurs Rex, (rainbow trout) Roy G Biv, (red herring) Ni, (goldfish) Goldie Hawn, and (tragic clownfish) Emmett Kelly. I know at some point he caught a black goldfish & named him Texas Tea, but I have no idea where that fish got to. (Later found him… forgot Artie was a klepto. Who steals a goldfish? LOL)

Anyway, with his LTW fulfilled, I had him invite Lily over. She said she’d be over soon, and hen immediately said “something just came up so I can’t.” She was showing as in her home, so I sent him over to visit.

When I checked to see why he was taking so long, look! Look what I see through her window! Guess that’s an acceptable reason to not rush over.

Aww, at least he’ll get to say he was there for the birth of his son. ❤ Welcome baby Otis! And now Phoenix looks even more anxious to be let in.

Gah, the cute, I can’t handle it!

Immediately upon walking in, he wished for his first non-fish wishes since his birthday (when he aged up, he wished to buy a motorcycle, and to buy a potato. LOL) Here he wished to marry Lily and to snuggle Otis.

We addressed the baby wish first so mama could have like two seconds to sit down. And also because baby! Squee!

Aww, family picture. 😉 Looks like Otis has daddy’s hair and maybe momma’s darker complexion. Can’t wait to see more as he grows. Totally visiting them later.

Man and wife. And with that slew of happiness, Phoenix moves out to live with Lily and Otis.

Checking back in on the main house, everyone’s doing well. Liam & Melissa are flirting, Ember is busy painting while she waits for Harlan to be done with work so she can invite him over to chat him up & move him in. Artie? Cleaning. But what he’s wishing for is to congratulate Phoenix. Awww.. okay, twist my arm, we’ll go back and visit.

Lily answer & invited Artie in. He autonomously picked up the baby for a snuggle while I hunted Phoenix down in the house.

Artie: “Heard you two got married. Congratulations, cuz!”

Harlan finally was off work. Ember invited him over (again), he came over and then tried to head out right away because he was tired (again). I bought the moodlet manager for Ember and had her use it on him because this was just getting old. LOL So, after he was cured from being tired, they chatted forever until the “Ask to Move In” option showed up. (Apparently won’t show if you’re being flirty. Lame.) So…here’s the newest addition to our household.

Ember’s overjoyed to have her honey here all the time. 🙂 They’re adorable together, pretty much always flirting.

Harlan is in the culinary career. His LTW is to learn every recipe. His favorite color is lime, but I am fairly lime-d out from Luna, so he just gets lime accents. 😛 He is rebellious, hydrophobic, workaholic, natural cook, and some other trait that I need to look up when I open the game up again because I didn’t have my act together enough to write it down the first time.

And now we have.. Artie’s birthday! Ember & Harlan were off on a wished-for date, but we at least called over Molly & Sammy to watch their baby boy age up into a young man.

He adds Neat to his list of traits. This has so far not changed his actions in anyway, but at least he gets a “having a blast” moodlet when he’s doing his autonomous cleaning.

I also didn’t move him out immediately. I can’t recall why I kept him, I know I was thinking something. Probably just subconsciously not ready to give up the only sim who ever cleans. LOL

I know this is dark, but it’s Harlan & Ember making out outside the movie theater on one of their dates. Dating is a giant cycle for them right now.  Ember will wish to go on a date with him so I have her ask him out. He agrees then wishes to have a great date. They both wish to see a movie, so off they go. Ember will end the date and then Harlan immediately wishes to go on a date with her. Here’s hoping other lovey wishes get tossed in the mix there soon. At least they’re cute & happy.

And.. it’s Liam’s turn to get old! He’s looking not bad for an elder. (And elsewhere in town, Molly aged up. We will have to visit soon because she aged up into that awful ribboned pigtail hair.)

He wished to retire. You got it, buddy. I’ve had enough of the emergencies, especially the ones where we couldn’t find the basement cat sims to convince them to run.

Artie: “Yay Uncle Liam!”

Sammy: “Way to retire, man! Showing life who’s boss! You’re a beast!”

Melissa: “Sammy’s still here from Artie’s birthday? That was yesterday.”

Clearly he had to stick around and work on his sign.

Look who I caught sparkle-popping outside of her house down the street – it’s Luna! (In the most gob-awful outfit ever. Yikes.) Meet baby Lukas.

Between Melissa and Liam, they are forever training poor Harlan here. Maybe that’s the reason he wishes to date so much – in hopes of getting off the lot for a bit. LOL Poor thing’s tired of feeling the burn.

Ember finished a brilliant painting worth $761, knocking out two of her wishes. Now we’re left with just “Cook Harlan’s favorite meal” (grilled cheese), but the fridge isn’t giving me that as an option. Maybe grilled cheese isn’t a supper food? We’ll check at lunchtime.

I also finally set Artie free into the world. He will be missed.

I was dying to know what Otis looked like as a toddler, so I had Liam visit Phoenix’s house. Oh noes! This poor adorable baby thing is starving! Liam, feed him.

Liam: Can’t. I don’t know this child’s family well enough.

(Incidentally both Liam and Melissa have had the want “Become a grandparent” locked in for a bit now. I don’t know why Otis wouldn’t count, but oh well at least it gives me a scapegoat reason to let Ember & Harlan try for baby soon if they don’t wish it on their own.)

Anyway, I set Liam to reacquainting himself with Phoenix and hauled Ember over to take care of Otis.

Ember: “This squish is pretty cute.”

I know! Now you’ll roll the wishes to get babies too, yeah?

Ember: “Mmm, nah.” *wishes to Paint a portrait of Phoenix*

So as soon as Liam built up his relationship enough, I had Ember go home and call Phoenix over there so she could paint him. Meanwhile, Grandpa Liam set about teaching Otis to walk (okay so that’s not exactly autonomous there but I’m going through tot withdrawal.. hehe..)

Look who came over on his own to visit while Liam was there. Artie! I missed you! It’s been a whole sim day since I finally let you move out!

And while he was there, he cleaned up their place. LOL Oh Artie. Never change.

Ugh, I just wub his widdle smooshy face. He has Phoenix’s hair color, Liam’s eye color, and it’s hard to tell for sure since he’s so little but I think his actual features will be more like his momma.

Liam: “Say ‘I love you, Grandpa!'”

Otis: “Yuboo!”

Okay.. back to the actual main house, where there are no babies of any kind yet but I’m not bitter at all or anything.

Ember has finished her portrait of Phoenix.

Ember: “Yay, now it’s like my twin is always here with me.”

About five minutes later, the notification pops up from Phoenix saying that he has to go, but that it’s been a total blasty blast. He literally posed for a portrait and then was relentlessly trained by Melissa for house while Ember-the-inviter painted. Not my idea of a fantastic group outing but hey, you do you, Phoenix.

And then.. I couldn’t handle it anymore. It had been 10 days with nothing but “date” or “hug amorously” wishes. Luna’s married & has a baby, Phoenix is married and has a toddler and a baby on the way, even Artie has moved out and gotten engaged to Shayla on his own. I fail at hands-off playing. LOL Ember & Harlan have an “eternally faithful” reputation for each other, so enh.. close enough.

I realize now that in my pouty haste, these momentous shots were taken in his work clothes and her bathing suit. Ah well, all the best romance is spontaneous, right? He had just gotten a promotion & bonus, so I’m saying he had been waiting on that to get the ring (even though we all know it costs nothing.)

And they celebrated. And a heavenly chorus lullaby chime rang out, and there was much rejoicing. This kid better be gorgeous. I’m going to TRY to wait ’em out for any extra kids until they wish, but we’ll see. I’m obviously not great at that.

But yay for a baby coming! *saves game immediately*

So it’s 3a.m. A notification popped up from Lily that she thought it was about time for someone to leave. I looked, and Liam was still over at their house. Starving, needing to pee, and exhausted, he stepped outside as she kicked him out. Surely he’ll head home to fill those bars, eh? Nope. Phoenix was in the back yard and so Liam set off for him.

Liam: “This is a really nice home you have here. You’re really growing up, son.”

Phoenix: “Thanks, dad… Tag! You’re it!”

Seriously Liam. GO HOME. Do not pass out here.

Finally around dawn he decides to head home. Thank goodness he retired and so he now drives the motive mobile. He only has to make it to the sidewalk without peeing his pants. It’s a close call, but he’s successful.

Ember & Harlan went on yet another date, this time to the diner where he works. And that was serendipitous, as I had forgotten he needed to work today. LOL So it was cut a little short when his shift started. Not to worry though, because Artie showed up on the lot. Ember got to announce her engagement to him, and he was happy to hear it.

Two cool things happened here.. 1. A pregnancy pop.

Ember: “Awww, and my belly will grow to exactly here, and then I will have a baby!”

Enh.. close enough. And 2. Luna & Uriah are expecting another baby. This means 3 of the 4 from this generation will be awaiting nooboos at the same time. 🙂

As soon as she popped, Harlan came strolling in to compliment her appearance. Awww. But speaking of, I knew there was no way I could handle that outfit’s color combo for the next couple days.

Ahhh, better. 🙂

Melissa gets home from visiting Luna and family. (Lukas is still at baby age, even though it says 0 days to transition. “Trigger Age Transition” wasn’t working, so I gave up and left, hoping he’d just do it himself the next day.)

Ember: “Hey mom! Guess who’s gonna be a grandma again… you!” 😀

Melissa: *wishes for 5 grandkids*
Liam, elsewhere: *wishes for 5 grandkids*

The next day, Ember hits her lifetime wish by maxing out the painting skill (the writing skill has been maxed for a while now).

And.. Phoenix & Lily’s baby girl Jean was born. 🙂

I was going to wrap this chapter up when the other two babies had been born, but the game crashed. Likely my fault. I sent Melissa over to try again to get Luna’s baby Lukas to age. Again, trigger age transition wasn’t working. So I saved the game, then clicked to edit him in CAS, and set his age as toddler. It worked in CAS, but when I hit the checkmark, Sims 3 crashed. Boo. Sooo.. I’m gonna wrap up for this time, and next time we’ll get to see all the babies (and hopefully Lukas will age on his own.)

Generation 5 taking charge

Last time the kids each found a favorite activity, and we played up to just before Luna’s birthday to young adult. So let’s jump right in with that.

Luna, who was born on a full moon, ages up to young adult also on a full moon. The family gathers around to cheer her on.

She takes her time thinking of a good wish (a second sprinkler maybe? LOL) and then blows out the candles.

She grows to a lovely young lady, as was expected.

And as for the new trait, here’s the video of the rolls I did. I made a list of each of the suggestions given in the comments (and one from what seemed to fit them via free will/wishes – though I replaced the Diva suggestion for Dramatic for Luna since I don’t have that expansion), then I dug out my dice. The girls each had 6 in their list, so they each got assigned a six-sider – Luna’s with numbers, Ember’s with pips. The boys each had 5 in their list. They don’t make 5-siders (at least that I know), so I made due with a 10-sider for Phoenix and a 20-sider for Artie and just assigned ranges. Similarly, when I couldn’t find my 4-sided die, I used an 8-sider to roll for who would get to be heir. Okay, overly complicated nerdy rant over.. hehe.. here’s the video of the rolls.

A 6 was rolled on Luna’s die, so to her traits of Loves the Outdoors, Genius, Good, and Friendly, Luna adds Childish. And as we can see, Ember won the heir roll. I haven’t told Artie yet, as he continues to be the cleanest teen I have ever laid eyes on.

Phoenix follows up the birthday festivities by having his hands talk to one another. I thought that was an insane sims only thing? Ah well, soon enough Phoenix.

First thing the next morning, Luna goes out to sign up for a job in the journalist career. We won’t get to follow her to the top, but at least we can help her get her foot in the door.

Back at home, Molly chewed Artie out for something. He looks about like I felt. Turns out he had set a booby trap. Sneaky. I never saw him.

A day of boring goes by, and it’s time for the twins’ birthday. Ember goes first, blowing out her candles with gusto.

She ages up to a spunky young lady who adds Hopeless Romantic to her list of traits.

Phoenix takes his wish-making very seriously.

Everyone cheers him on as he ages up into.. pigtails. Oof. I got you, boo.

One quick makeover later, and it’s much better. Phoenix adds Insane to his list of traits, but he’s an adorable crazy loon.

And, because we didn’t have enough cake leftovers, we threw a party for Luna’s boyfriend Uriah. (We had gotten pop-ups over the past couple days that the twins’ significant others aged up already.) I couldn’t be bothered to put the walls up for his cake pics, but he remains a cutie too.

And then, with the knowledge that it was the new generation that needed this house with its “room to grow”, Molly and Sammy headed out to find a much more modest home of their own. As their new place was only a 1 bedroom, the remaining adults promised to look after Artie here until he was old enough to strike out on his own as well.

And here we have the twins deciding to “get to know” each other. Nevver mind that they’ve been besties since childhood at least and obviously knew each other before birth even.

Phoenix: “When I was growing up, we had this treehouse we played in all the time.”

Ember: “No way! Me too!”

Luna meanwhile asks newly-grown Uriah if he’d like to stay the night. He would.

They snuggle adorably (just sleeping, they were both exhausted after the triple birthday party), but in the morning Uriah’s thoughts make it clear than he wishes to waste no time. “Can’t wait til we’re makin’ babies.”

Meanwhile, Ember finishes a romance book and it was so steamy that it overheated the computer. It DOES net her 1,795/wk in royalties though. These romance books sell like hotcakes in sim-land. (She had finished her first one last chapter and it made a similar amount, though she has yet to see Harlan so she can gift it to him.) Between the two books, she is at level 4 (I think) in her writing career and thisclose to the next level.

Back at the house, Luna & Uriah are getting on swimmingly. My speaker was giving me fits, so I have no idea whether the jingle played or not. Fingers crossed that that little person-person-plus adds a little person soon.

And then, to totally seal the deal, Luna proposes on the spot. Uriah giddily accepts.

They have a quick & private ceremony out on the balcony before moving out into the home that was Luna’s grandparents. (Basil & Kitty).

I remember that I had put a on the original lot back during Generation 2 (for Calvin, who stocked it). So Phoenix heads off to fish there to try and fulfill some of his fish wishes.

Ember visits Harlan, gets some ing & a smooch in, but he has to go to work. She enjoys the view as he’s walking away.

Phoenix visits Lily and even pops the question. She says yes, and they celebrate in the shower. *eyebrow waggle* (Also, a lullaby jingle plays. Woot!)

Later that evening, quick check. Where my simmies at?

Artie is cleaning, Melissa is taking a dip in the pool, Phoenix is fishing in his formalwear (as one does), Liam is playing with fire, and Ember had decided she would try and just wait until Harlan got back so she settled in to write. Not long after this, she got too hungry to stick around and left.

Liam takes a shortcut straight through the wall to feed the fish. Dedication.

He does at least head outside to feed the others. (I think Phoenix is at 9/13 of his perfect fish at this point.) It’s a good thing the others feed the fish autonomously, as Phoenix is almost never home. He’s been out trying to nab a perfect deathfish for 4 or 5 nights now. He wants it. (And also wants 25 angelfish. I think we’ll make that goal first.)

Ember’s third romance novel is the most profitable yet, and nets her an additional 2,097/wk in royalties (and clears up multiple wish slots, leaving her with Paint something worth $150, and give gift to Harlan.)

Phoenix hits level seven as a fisherman after selling off all those (non-perfect grrr) death fish he has caught. He then gives a wish I’ve seen no other sim give – he wishes to get demoted. Lol, no. You got a baby on the way.As soon as you hit 13 perfect fish, I’ll move you in with Lily. 🙂

Artie is still cleaning. And also pranking. LOL He sets a booby trap, it goes off, he gets scolded. “Maybe you should help out more around the house.” Bahahaha.. he’s literally the only one who does anything around the house. I don’t think there’s more he CAN do.

Ember’s working on that painting wish. I love artsy sims. 🙂

She finishes that up and decides to invite Harlan over. She met him outside. Look at that foot pop. ❤

Harlan: “You, my dear, are a work of art.”

Ember: *swoon*

She finally got to give him that first romance novel she wrote (dedicated to him, of course). He loved it.. and then he jumped into her arms. *hehe*

I’m trying to wait for wishes from her to do the big milestone-y things (woohoo, marriage), but I may have to cave and at least ask him to move in. He was tired when we got here and then after he woke up we only got a few hours before he had to head off. Still, this moment of them dreaming next to each other cracked me up.

Ember: “Oh man, what could be more romantic than lounging on a tropical beach with your love?”

Harlan: “I hope we never go near the water. Ever.”

Artie has prom. Oh yeah. He didn’t remember to ask his girlfriend to be his date, so we’ll see how this goes. (Well, I didn’t remember, but he’s absent-minded so it fits. :P) The pop-up reminds him to get ready, so he heads off to the bath. Well.. sort of. Apparently, he heads off to clean the bath.

When he’s done, I have him dress up. He’s a cute little neat-freak-without-the-neat-trait.

Liam has a large house fire at the same moment…with one basement cat sim trapped. I can’t save someone I can’t see. I can’t switch houses to cancel the event because I’m not taking a chance that it’ll mess up Artie’s prom. I guess he’ll just lose work performance. Stupid glitch. I let him smash every door in the house to make me feel better.

Anyway.. some prom highlights (and low notes):
-Artie was voted Prom King
-Artie spotted a three-eyed llama (I guess someone spiked the punch but good)
-Artie’s crush spent the entire time avoiding him (Ouch. Poor guy has a -50 “denied for dance” moodlet.)
-He was challenged to a dance battle and won, but a fight broke out over it. (Dance off evolved into fight club….*munches popcorn*)
-Artie spotted a wardrobe malfunction. Twice. o.O

Alright, I leave you with a parting shot of Artie heading home before the zombie comes for him. 2 more days until his birthday, so we’ll see that next time, among other news. 🙂

Cleaning, writing, fishing, & sprinklering

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood..

Aw, but sad Poppy is sad. 😦 I saw her while panning through the town. The thoughts of “Aw, she’s sad! :(” was quickly followed by thoughts of “Holy cow, she’s still alive!” LOL Basil was younger than her and he passed during the last update. I looked. She was 107 days old. I made Liam go talk to her and cheer her up, cuz no cute little old lady should be sad and alone.

(And like two sim days later, she died.)

It’s gearing up to be the weekend and so I let the kids go free will. I’m going to watch what they do/wish for on their own (not controlling is SO HARD for me so I’ll control if they’ve wished for it) and use that to determine a fitting trait choice. I’ll add that to the list that you guys gave me and then roll for traits at Luna’s birthday. 🙂

So.. Friday night. Luna is currently splashing in the sprinkler. I didn’t take a pic, cuz it’s dark outside. Phoenix is breaking curfew and to hang at his girlfriend’s house…and play in the toybox. Lily (the girlfriend) is practically rolling her eyes over this in the other room.

Ember is on the computer. I wish I had thought to take the pic the other direction so I could know if she was gaming, or chatting, or playing chess, or what.

And Artie is passing by a fridge full of leftovers (including mac & cheese), to make some mac & cheese of his own.

Saturday morning came. Artie gathered up dirty clothes, did laundry, and then recycled the old newspaper.

Luna played in the sprinkler some more, and then came in and made salad. (Missed that, but the plate left out on the counter let me know who made it.)

Phoenix wanted to learn the bait for.. something. So while I had him in the bookstore buying out every fishing bait book they had, I scoped out the park. Gonna assume Levitating Toddler is there with a basement cat parent.

Egad. Being carried by the glitched basement cat is terrifying.

Ember paints a little, and wishes for things like give Harlan (boyfriend) a gift, write a romance novel, write a book worth at least $amount-I-didn’t-write-down. I’ve decided when her romance novel is finished, she’ll gift it to Harlan, because I myself am a big ole sap like that. 😛 She grabs leftovers for lunch. Meanwhile, Artie discovers the salad left out by his sister and puts it away, then heads over to mop up a puddle by the bar caused by a broken sink. I briefly recall all the days of Bonehilda leaving puddles by the bar… and realize I don’t miss it. Artie is three times the maid she was. ROFL

After all his work cleaning, he wished to meet someone new. So I hunted through the town to find a teen that he wasn’t related to & sent him off to visit that house. Meet… um, Shayla, I think.

He wished to group up with her, so we did and headed back home (for ease of watching everyone.) They were just out chatting in the garage (no idea why the garage.. possibly because it didn’t have the rest of the family in it? LOL) Molly would not leave them alone. She kept finding reasons to come out there. And then… Artie let loose with a flirtatious joke and Shayla giggled back in response. Person person plus for the two of them, but instant person person minus from the overprotective mom.

Then he wished to kiss Shayla, so we got that done before Molly found a reason to come back in. Moms. Ugh. Amirite? 😉

And then I fudged a bit since this wasn’t a wish, but I didn’t want to bother with the building back up again so Artie asked the girl he met 6 hours ago if she’d like to go steady. She would indeed. And so with my mischief managed, I left them alone to do whatever while I checked on everyone else.

Phoenix tries his hardest to make fishing look badass. But he catches an angelfish for the pic and it just doesn’t quite have the edge. (Incidentally, what with all his fishy-wishes and Ember’s writing wishes, I had them register in the respective careers. Their version of a part-time job. Way cooler than folding t-shirts, which is what I did as a teen.)

Luna is… in the sprinkler.

Ember’s working on a painting.

Artie abandons his new girlfriend in the garage so he can play video games with his dad.

Not to worry though, because every other sim on the lot is in the garage. Melissa’s having her elder birthday. Luna hauled herself out of the sprinkler to cheer, Liam pouts because he wanted to cheer from over THERE but the GIRLS are in his WAY, and Shayla is probably rethinking her agreement to date someone in this family.

Liam did get his act together in enough time to give one little toot as Melissa’s hair greyed and bits of her drooped.

Artie, either remembering his girlfriend was here on the lot in what was a now a date OR realizing that it was his Aunt Melissa’s birthday, heads out to the garage to join the crowd. Then promptly forgets why he was there. Oh Artie, I know those feels, bro.

Ember had finished her painting and decided to practice some chess.

I realized Phoenix wasn’t on the lot, and clicked on him. He was still standing by the fishing spot from earlier in the day.

Phoenix: “You.. you didn’t give me anything else to do.”

Oh honey. You get to do whatever you want right now, till Monday comes & school starts again, and then your choice is to go to class or else.

Phoenix: “Okay, so…I can fish?” *proceeds to roll more wishes for fishes* LOL

As soon as the garage cleared out, Melissa headed to the living room, broke the stereo, and wished to retire. Apparently a sim retiring is yet one more reason that all the sims in the house will wake up and come to cheer. My poor tired simmies are making it rain confetti on ole Melissa here.

What my sims are up to at the crack of dawn…

Ember: “Why do I get the feeling that somebody’s about to act a fool?”

*shrug* Must be a twin thing.

Phoenix: (bet this’ll freak out the sleeping Luna too) “Boogedy boogedy!”

Ember: “Oh my heart!”

Luna: ZzZzZz…

Phoenix: Enh, one out of two ain’t bad.

Small house fire. Liam can’t be bothered. Just jack knifes his truck across the street and stays well down the hill, reading a book on his tablet. I gave him a nudge. Crisis averted.

Phoenix commends his sister on getting to ride in the back of a cop car.

Ember: “I know. You keep staying out all night and I head home and yet I’ve got more street cred than you.”

After checking to make sure homework is done (it all was), everyone’s on freewill/”wish will” again for the evening. Artie mops the puddle from the broken shower, then goes to gather up laundry. Then (since the shower’s still broken and thus still puddling), he mops again.

Luna is playing in the sprinkler in the dark. Again. I gave up and put floodlights out there so we could see her in a picture. And her wishes are all things like be besties with Melissa, or congratulate Monique (townie who just got married), or go on a field trip. Extrovert wishes, but she can’t bring herself to leave the lot (*cough* the sprinkler *cough*).

Ember is working on her book. Still. How long ARE romance books? Oh well, she’s making like $70 each time she “submits a few chapters to the publisher” so it sounds like it’ll bring in a ton when it’s done.

I find our rebellious Phoenix in the living room, daydreaming of unicorns. He was in his trunks, so I assume he had been swimming. He had a wish to raise athletic skill, so I sent him to work out.

Artie heads to bed early, and so he’s up early too. He has some free time to kill before school starts, so he decides to scrub the shower. Honestly, I have never ever ever had a sim clean this much spontaneously. Gotta admit, he was my least favorite at first, but all this cleaning grows on a gal. 😉 Now I’m back to loving them all, so I’m happy I decided just to roll it.

Earthquake! Yes! Now’s your chance to make the LTW tally. Rescue that sim, Liam! And look at him.. marching straight into the flames to crouch and clear aside the rubble rather than clearing it from any of the other three open, non-flaming sides. So idiotic reckless brave.

Bothered the heck out of me that I wasn’t allowed to interact with the toddler to save her, and then when I saved one of the rubble-covered sims, they just rushed out past her not saving her either. So I ignored the other rubble-man and took care of the flames and gas leak in here first. There’ll be no endangered toddlers on my watch, thank you.

Final house of the earth quake, this is the moment Liam achieved the LTW goal of 35 sim lives saves. He had just uncovered a basement cat person, which is why there’s no obvious sim saved. He then made it to 36 for good measure, then fixed their gas leak by hammering sparks on the stove, and this earthquake was over. Whew. And LTW is over. Double whew. Even managed it before hitting elder status.

And as he finishes up in that house and heads to go back home, THEN he decides to wear his firefighter gear. Must have skill points in simslogic I guess.

This sim-evening is when Luna’s birthday will be. I made a list of the suggestions for traits given on here, doubling them if they were mentioned more than once. Then I added one extra option to the list for each based on what they wished for/did on free will. Childish was added as an option for Luna (because there’s not a dedicated sprinkler one LOL), Hopeless Romantic was re-listed for Ember (because of the Harlan & romance novel wishes), Angler was re-listed for Phoenix who almost exclusively wished for fishy things, and Neat was the option I tacked onto Artie’s list because cleaning is lyfe. Ha. I have rolled for them, and for who is heir (and even video’ed my rolls because I’m a dork). Sooo.. all of that will come next time! 🙂

And so I leave you with a pic of Bonehilda at the park, likely trying to leave the fruit/juice out until it ferments.

Bonehilda: “Forever alone.”