Chapter 1.10 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 1.12

Generation One: Black

Appearance: Black hair, siren-like clothing style
Traits: Evil, Non Committal, Kleptomaniac
Aspiration: Renaissance Sim
Occupation: Collector/Random careers of choice
House Goal: 10,000 worth

The Date

Love Day dawned clear and beautiful, and I elected to take a day off of work to celebrate it with Rangi. I surprised him with a Dahlia, then drug him down to the waterfall for some alone time.

He was surprised, but happy – and we both enjoyed remembering our first day together.

Then, I “drug” him out to the new restaurant in town. This was the perfect day to try it out, I figured. Apparently we weren’t the only ones who had thought of the restaurant, and there were quite a number of other people there.

We were able to get a table, however, and I have to say, the place was gorgeous.

I ordered lobster for both of us, and a nice drink, and we sat down to wait. By this time, the clouds had started to gather, and rain was definitely on the way in. Thank goodness the restaurant was indoors!

For some reason, Rangi was slightly disappointed at what I ordered him, but he recovered quickly.

Then, a collective gasp of shock went through the crowd and myself and several other patrons leapt to our feet. I barely noticed that my mother had shown up at the front of the restaurant.

Tevin was here… and he was naked. Just sitting at the table as if nothing was wrong. I mean, I applaud his boldness and ability to feel free… but I’m not sure it was appropriate.

By the time the shock dissipated, I headed back to my table… trying not to notice that Tevin was now showering in the rain.

… I wasn’t kidding. It occurred to me that maybe he would stop the silliness if I went over and talked to him – so that’s just what I did.

Luckily, I was right. Tevin redressed in a hurry, and swore he hadn’t noticed Rangi and I at the next table. He apologized, and I headed back to my meal.

It was then that I noticed that mother was out with Father Winter – not Vaea. Perhaps she was negotiating for more presents? I don’t know… but after the way the night had been going, I wasn’t about to ask.

Rangi and I headed to the bar to get another drink, having finished our dinner. Mine was scrumptious, although Rangi decided he wasn’t all that hungry after all.

The flaming bar was something else. Rangi was brave enough to sit right next to the tiki’s flames, and for a moment, I worried about his safety, but it was all for nothing. The drinks, of course, were delicious.

By this time, Tevin had vacated the building … and Mom apparently decided his salad looked better than whatever she had ordered.. and got up to get it. Things couldn’t be weirder.

Rangi and I went to the bathrooms as the lights came on, making the whole place look simply spectacular.

Then, I decided – before we headed home – to try out some fire dancing at the bonfire.

The waiter joined in. Rangi, however, professed that he was getting tired, and the nanny probably wanted to get home, so we headed back home. Just in time, too, because I could have sworn that was a Vampire that had just shown up for dinner.

We headed out across the lighted bridge, and hurried home among the raindrops.

After such a weird night, it was nice to be able to do the simple task of tucking in the kids.

… And then going to celebrate, and erase the strange night from memory.

Chapter 1.10 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 1.12

Chapter 1.9 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 1.11

Generation One: Black

Appearance: Black hair, siren-like clothing style
Traits: Evil, Non Committal, Kleptomaniac
Aspiration: Renaissance Sim
Occupation: Collector/Random careers of choice
House Goal: 10,000 worth

Growing Pains

Austen really loves his Science table. Although all the sparks tends to worry me at times. But that’s being a mom. Worrying is part of it. And speaking of, I still haven’t talked to my Mom. I need to, but I keep putting it off. There’s just always something to do… and I still haven’t figured out what to say.

Kimber is still upset about being “little”. Comforting her is a daily, hour by hour thing as she tries way to hard to learn quickly to “catch up” to where her brother is. I wonder if it’ll ever occur to her that he’s actually older, so she’ll never fully catch up. Probably not. She’s so determined.

Austen is such a great kid, always taking time out of his days to spend time with his sister. I really appreciate it, because she idolizes him so much, it would be so heartbreaking for her if she couldn’t play with him at times.

“Is it my birthday YET??” Kimber complains yet again.

“No, Sweetie. Tomorrow!” … But tomorrow can’t come soon enough for Kimber.

.. So I occupy her with more block time. She’ll grow up to be a Top Notch Toddler, just like her brother, because she’s been so diligent about learning her skills, but something tells me even that won’t satisfy her.

Austen had his first school project today, a solar system model. Rangi took the time to help him out with it since I was busy with Kimber.

It turned out to be an “excellent” project, and Austen is excited to take it to school the next day and show it off. I don’t blame him.

Finally, it’s time for Kimber to grow up. I baked her a special strawberry cake, but she’s less interested in the cake as she is in the actual birthday.

She grew up gorgeous, though. And her smile says it all. She got the Loves Outdoors trait, and did, indeed, get Top Notch Toddler. She wants to be a Whiz kid just like her brother. (No surprise there!)

She was definitely pleased with her new bedroom furniture and anti-monster light. I also bought Austen and her an activity table, which both were thrilled with.

Kimber’s first action was to do her homework. While I’m studying my gardening book. I have a feeling she’ll be a great student, just like her brother. Her first day of school isn’t until tomorrow, though, much to her dismay.

So, to distract her, I played chess with her for most of the day. She tried hard, and picked it up amazingly quick.

Austen apparently fell in a puddle on the way home from school, and was in dire need of a bath. But he came home with his first “A”! I promised his favorite dinner in celebration.

In all the craziness over Kimber’s birthday, apparently I completely forgot mine. Oops!

With Kimber no longer being a toddler, it gives me more time to work on my own skills. Charisma is by far my least favorite to work on, but it’s so close to level 8.. which is my goal.

Thankfully, Rangi is able to step up and take time to be with the kids while I work on my aspiration.

Kimber continues to be the kid with all the questions. Mostly about science and her world. She determined to be just like her older brother. But, then, we knew that already. So it’s no surprise.

One final note for today – Rangi decided to retire. He’s tired of the daily grind, and I don’t blame him. This will allow him to have more time for the kids, and to let me work more on my skills. He’s so happy about it, and I’m proud of him for making this decision.

Chapter 1.9 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 1.11

Chapter 1.8 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 1.10

Generation One: Black

Appearance: Black hair, siren-like clothing style
Traits: Evil, Non Committal, Kleptomaniac
Aspiration: Renaissance Sim
Occupation: Collector/Random careers of choice
House Goal: 10,000 worth

Why, Mama?

I took a little time for myself this morning, and had a leisurely swim in the ocean first thing in the morning. In my head, however, I wondered how to get my mother to calm down about the volcano. I understood her panic, but I was sure things would be okay in the long run. I just had to convince her.

Those concerns left my head, however, when I got home to Kimber making a disaster. I thought to scold her, but stopped because it was helping her imagination skill. I could always clean up later. Meantime, however, I had to get to work, and since Rangi was back to work today, too, I had to call in a nanny to watch the kids.

Austen played some chess with her, getting some work done on his aspiration – and saving us from having to spend the time in front of a chess set. There were other things to do. Then again, aren’t there ALWAYS other things to do?

When I got home, I was exhausted. Rangi shuffled me off to bed and promised to watch the kids. Luckily, there were plenty of leftovers in the fridge, so dinner wasn’t an issue. He and Austen chatted about school and chess.. and science. Austen was really interested in it after getting that new science set for winterfest – and couldn’t stop talking about it.

Every chance he got, he was working on his Mental skill, whether it was on his science set, or the chess set, or just reading a book with Rangi or I. I suspected he would be a scientist later in life – or at least, do something to do with science.

Kimber, however, was in a big hurry to grow up. She wanted to be just like her older brother, and things weren’t happening fast enough for her. She was constantly asking questions and following us around curiously, watching everything. Which meant she was underfoot all the time.

Rangi helped Austen work on his aspiration by reading to him while I worked in the evening again. I was really getting tired of missing out on evenings with my kids, however. So I decided something had to be done.

When I got home, I made some calls and found an opportunity in the gardening career, where I could work from home most of the time. This would be the perfect job, and I jumped at it.

While I was on the phone, however, Kimber was busy interrupting an important chess game. Rangi struggled to follow both conversations, but finally gave up and sent Kimber off to her room to play on her own while I made dinner.

… Then the sky fell again. This was becoming a daily thing, and the rumbles from the volcano surely could be felt across the island. It definitely wouldn’t help my case with my mother.

This time, the rocks fell practically at my front door. I cautioned the curious kids to leave them alone, and made sure to find things to occupy them indoors for the rest of the evening.

Between my paychecks and Rangi’s, we were able to afford some new things. Namely, another expansion of the living room to allow room for a desk and computer, and a nice stereo system I had found when I was working in the Entertainment career. Rangi quickly took advantage of the computer, and it was hard to get him off of it.

Gardening was proving to be the perfect career. I loved being able to work from home so I could see more of my kids.

It even allowed me to take some time to let them go down the hill and play in the ocean. Austen paddled around, working on his motor skill, and Kimber played in the shallows – again complaining because she wasn’t big enough to follow him into the ocean.

I wasn’t shirking on my skills, either. I managed to master cooking today, and celebrated with some fluffy, delicious pancakes.

Then, I determined I needed to work more on my handiness skill. My skills, after all, were the the last thing I needed to finish to complete my Renaissance Sim aspiration. I had half of them to the level 8 required, but the others were still hanging out at level 7. I had work to do. Yet another reason working from home now was a really good idea.

Kimber cornered me again later, though. While Rangi was on the computer yet again and Austen on the chess set, she decided I was the person to bother.

“Why, Mama?” she complained. “Why can’t I be big like Austen??”

“Because you need time to grow, little one.” I replied.

“But why?? I wanna be big NOW!”

“That’s not how things work, Kimber, honey. Things that are little need time to grow up. Remember the plants in mommy’s garden? They start out little, too. But they grow up to be big and do great things, like giving us vegetables. You will, too. Just give it some more time.”

“How much time?” she whined.

“Don’t worry, sweetie, you’ll be big before you know it.” I assured her, and took her off to bed. Some things were awfully hard to explain.

I pondered her questions in my head.. and also how to get Mom to understand that I wasn’t being a bad parent by raising my kids here. This was the perfect place to inspire young scientists, after all. Maybe that was the way I could reassure her. But then, science was never her thing. I went round and round in my head.. absent-mindedly playing with the lump of clay from the shelf in Kimber’s room. Ultimately, I never came to a conclusion, though.. and I put the clay down dejectedly and went to tuck Austen in before turning in myself.

Chapter 1.8 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 1.10

Back to Chapter 2.4 | On to Chapter 2.6

First, we check on our goals…

Set #46 – Stylist - Aiden Ireland (heir)
Get to level 10 of the Style Influencer career (Stylist)
Make over 15 sims

Set #21 – Chef - Brock Savage (spouse)
Get to Level 10 of the Culinary Career (Chef)
(currently level 7)
Master the Cooking Skill
Master the Gourmet Cooking Skill (level 7)
Complete the Master Chef Aspiration
Cook All Base Game Recipes in Excellent Quality

Set #4 – Master of the Real - Maren Brink (roommate)
Get to Level 10 in the Painting Career (Master of the Real)
(currently level 8)
Master the Painting Skill
Master the Photography Skill
Take and display 25 Perfect Quality Photos

We’re not doing too bad. The major thing left is promotions.. which just takes time. .. And then we get back to playing. I will apologize, however, this update is pretty short.. and boring. It was one of those “filler” weeks for my sims, so not much happened.

The little family. All together. Brock has the right idea, though. Naptime!

Bathtime for Breanna

.. Maybe Brock should be up watching Brent while Aiden is otherwise occupied.

Brent is furiously skilling, I’m determined to get him Top Notch Toddler so his skills will be easier next generation. The retail goal is hard enough without making skilling tough, too.

.. So little Brent is making a disaster all over the house. For imagination’s sake.

And that last pesky movement skill…

Woohoo! And there’s still a whole day to go! Now I can work on little Breanna instead.

Another major milestone. (No.. not the freezer bunny hoarding a cupcake..)

.. Now all we need are more promotions!

.. Nothing interesting happened for a while…

So here’s Brent all grown up and working on his homework. I gave him the self-assured trait. Hopefully being confident will help him with sales? I really don’t know. But we’ll see.

Playing with Aiden. Imagination skills for the win.

More homework. Boy, my sims are being especially boring this week. Brent is working on the social aspiration first.. and he’s just running around meeting people.. which isn’t especially interesting. On a side note, however, I discovered that somehow I didn’t have aging on for unplayed sims in this save file. Weird. But that’s why I found all the starting kids still as kids. I switched it on, so I can see some new sims in a while.

Searching for his muse on the stylist board. He had to for work.

Thinking skill. And it’s Brock’s turn for parenting skills.

Working on the mental aspiration next, since the beginning of it is the hardest part of child aspirations. The social one is my least favorite, but it’s easy. It’s just annoying.

The annoying reading requirement.. it takes requeueing it so many times…

Breanna looks confused as to what her brother and dad are doing. It’s like she’s trying to understand the kid’s book.

Aiden goes on an upgrading spree for something to do. He’s got all his promotions and skills finished, so he’s just bored. Or maybe that’s me.

Breanna “sneaking” up on Brock, who’s browsing the forums in his spare time (on his own initiative.)

She’s adorable. I keep wondering if I ought to make her heir.. but the other part of me is stubborn to keep it Brent, since I had already decided.

I just can’t stop watching her. Love her so much! Plus, she’s more interesting than the rest of the family at the moment.

That moment when someone who doesn’t live there anymore shows up uninvited and takes out your trash.. then says she has to go. … I was so confused.

And this is to commemorate… nothing. It was supposed to be for Brent finishing his first aspiration – the social one – but Olivia left (literally, just disappeared) before I could get her all the way to friend status. Guess I have to wait for next week/update!

Back to Chapter 2.4 | On to Chapter 2.6

Chapter 1.7 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 1.9

Generation One: Black

Appearance: Black hair, siren-like clothing style
Traits: Evil, Non Committal, Kleptomaniac
Aspiration: Renaissance Sim
Occupation: Collector/Random careers of choice
House Goal: 10,000 worth

(A/N: I did include a UI screenshot with this post, because it explains what happened better than I could.)

A Busy Day

Kimber is just the sweetest toddler. She is always following someone around, chatting, hugging, or just watching. I wonder what’s going on behind those pretty eyes of hers, because she just seems so inquisitive and bright.

While I’m away at my first day on the Entertainer career, she gets her first bath – trust me, she needed one…

… And apparently, this made Austen feel incredibly left out. So he watched and pouted, and wished it was his turn.

After bath time, he convinced Kimber it was time to play dolls, giving Rangi a much needed break.

While I was at work, however, the opportunity of a lifetime came up.

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I took the opportunity, and got not one, but TWO promotions out of it. It thrust me a little bit into the limelight, but what can one expect when you’re on stage. For a temporary job (since I plan to find another one before long), this is certainly turning out to be a nice one. I hurried home to tell Rangi, who was very proud, and the kids (who were less so, since they probably didn’t really understand, anyway). The bonus that came with the promotion was certainly well-timed, as well.

When I get home, I give a sleepy Kimber some one on one time and read her to sleep. She tried her hardest to stay awake for more of the story, but those little eyes just wouldn’t stay open anymore. I gave her a kiss, tucked her in, then looked to make sure Austen had actually gone to sleep before turning in myself. Tomorrow would be a big day, after all.

The morning brought with it Winterfest. Among other things. It was BOTH Austen and Rangi’s birthday’s, too! I brought out the tree, placed gifts below it, and set the decorations aside for later. Since the day was probably going to be jam-packed with family time, I chose to make a Grand Breakfast to wake everyone up as a surprise, but Austen caught me.

He watched me for a while, then went to play with the dolls quietly, careful (thankfully!) not to wake his sister up too early.

Breakfast was a huge success.. and Rangi relished the treat of not having to rush off to work first thing in the morning.

The kids ate on their beds, and, amazingly, both were careful not to make too big of a mess.

After breakfast, Austen finally remembered that it was his “big day”.. and excitedly came to “remind” Rangi (who, of course, hadn’t forgotten, but he played along for Austen’s sake.)

Kimber, who was disappointed that it wasn’t HER birthday, too, came to complain while I was baking Rangi and Austen’s cakes. I assured her that her time would come soon enough, and reminded her that since it was Winterfest, there were presents for her today, too.

Then it was time to blow out the candles.

“One… Two… Three… Go!” Austen shouted, and both of them managed to get all of their candles in one go.

“Look at me, rocking the grey hair!” exclaimed Rangi, and struck a pose for the camera.

Austen grinned, striking a pose as well, then ran to show his sister his new outfit. I was disappointed, however, that he grew up with the Kleptomaniac trait, just like me.. but at least he wanted to be a Whiz Kid, too. He also grew up with the Top Notch Toddler trait.

The birthdays had gone off without a hitch, and I quickly got out the decorations to occupy everyone for a little while. (Nobody was interested in cake after such a huge breakfast.)

While Rangi and Austen decorated the tree, I upgraded the tub with and repaired the sink. (If you look closely, you can see me in the bathroom mirror.)

Kimber, although she was still a bit miffed that it wasn’t her birthday, too, congratulated her (now) big brother and then drug him off to show him his new bedroom furniture.

I had tried very hard to match his froggie rug, and Austen was thrilled with the success I’d had. He bounced around on the bed for a while, poked at his new anti-monster light (which I had been particularly happy to buy after my experience as a kid!!), and then announced it was time for presents.

Rangi “ran” the camera while the rest of us opened gifts, letting Kimber open hers first. She got a wonderful lump of clay, while Austen got a science set that he HAD to set up in the hallway right away. Rangi and I laughed, and convinced him to wait for a few minutes while Rangi opened his present at last.

Rangi and I laughed, and convinced him to wait for a few minutes while Rangi opened his present at last.

Then, said science set was set up in the hallway near my woodworking bench. How the dollhouse got broken, I’m not sure. Or should I say, who broke it. Nobody was willing to confess. I suspect it was Kimber, however.

Father Winter showed up with more gifts for everyone – although he looked considerably different from what I remember him looking like when I was a kid.

And then – just to cap off an already incredible day, the volcano had to erupt – again. Father Winter was understandably rattled and quickly made his excuses and left.. but made sure to leave everyone’s gifts behind.

Not long after the volcano incident, both kids yawned and were quickly ushered into their beds… while Rangi and I staged our own celebration. It was a short celebration, however, because we were as exhausted as the kids had been. Tomorrow, as it were, is another day.

Chapter 1.7 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 1.9

Chapter 1.6 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 1.8

Generation One: Black

Appearance: Black hair, siren-like clothing style
Traits: Evil, Non Committal, Kleptomaniac
Aspiration: Renaissance Sim
Occupation: Collector/Random careers of choice
House Goal: 10,000 worth

Volcanic Words

It’s Winter. So it rains. A lot. I could change it, but there’s no need to be outside.. because the kids seem to take up all of our time. Adding the second child may have been a little premature, but we’ll get by.

Kimber is utterly adorable. And so easy to take care of. She sleeps most the time, and only wakes for bottles and diaper changes. It’s chasing after Austen that takes the longest. He’s always into something.

Lately, what he’s into is making messes. Everywhere. Yesterday, it was in the garden. Who knows where it’ll be today.

I’m still working on my skills for my aspiration. And waffling about changing my job. I know I need to.. but the money is so good. And I want to see space. You know, just once. So I continue to wait.

Rangi has turned out to be such a great dad, taking over when I need time to work on my skills. Which is quite a lot of the time. I try to ease his burden by taking care of Kimber when she cries, but he often gets there first. Maybe he’s just faster.

Austen is learning new things all the time. He may very well grow up to be a Top Notch Toddler, but he has a few more skills to gain before we’ll know for sure.

… And.. apparently.. a few more messes to make. Just can’t keep that kid contained.

Mom stopped over today, and I was so glad to see her. It gave her a chance to meet the next generation’s heir.. and to get to know Austen a little better.

Austen, however, didn’t seem to be interested in socializing. Little Mr. Grump had other ideas of what sounded like a good time.

.. Like playing! I’m sure Mom understood that I had to put Austen’s needs first, and talk to her later. It’s not like she didn’t raise three kids herself.

So Rangi took some time to get to know his mother in law better. I’m glad they seem to get along.

Then.. the worst thing possible happened.

“What in the WORLD is that?! Why is everything shaking??”

… The sky was falling as the volcano erupted yet again. Lava feel from the sky and the whole world went crazy.

“My baby!!!! Austen’s still outside!!!” I screamed. (The broken plumbing from the aftershock barely registered. It could be fixed later.)

Rangi ran to get Austen, who was just standing around, watching the show.

.. And Mom stomped inside, determined to give me a piece of her mind.

“How could you endanger my grand-kids by living so close to the volcano?? WHAT made you pick THIS place, of all the lots available in Sulani!!” she yelled.

I tried to explain that it really wasn’t all that dangerous, but she just wouldn’t listen.

She went on and on about me putting the kids at risk, and how we should move.

.. And I could barely get a word in edgewise.

Before I knew it, she stomped away, yelling about how she was going to get Vaea involved in this.

Sigh. There’s no way we can afford to move, even if that were possible. So she’s just going to have to learn to deal with it.

All the excitement wore poor little Austen out, however, and I hurried to get him into his bed. It had certainly been a trying day.

Then.. the next day…

… it happened again. This time it nearly took out a wall of the house – Right where little Kimber was sleeping, too! I was at work, and it was Rangi who ran to save Kimber and Austen this time. Luckily, Mom wasn’t around to see, because we would have definitely heard about it.

Little Kimber grew up while I was at work. If that’s not a reason to quit work, I don’t know what is. But she’s adorable. She grew up to be an Independent little scamp, and quickly made it known she wanted to learn her skills on her own.

Austen, on the other hand, still preferred help. And Rangi was more than willing to step in, so long as he knew both toddlers were inside and not out playing with the lava rocks.

I finally got to see space! My promotion to Astronaut was exactly the catalyst I needed. So when I got a phone call on the way home from a man offering me a position in the Entertainment career, closer to home, I jumped at it. There was no need to travel all the way to the SpaceY institute for work anymore.

The promotion also allowed us to expand the house.. which was sorely needed now that we had a second toddler. We expanded the main room, added a hallway so the handiness bench could be inside.. and a second bedroom for Kimber. I finally broke down and bought a dollhouse for the kids, too.

Rangi and I “celebrated”, then I went to make dinner in the newly expanded kitchen. Pan-fried Tilapia. Yum!

Austen took the moment without parental influence to destroy the brand-new dollhouse. Only to break down in tears because it was broken. Kids can be so silly sometimes! I quickly fixed the dollhouse, let the kids finish their dinner, and got both of them into bed.

.. Because there was more celebration to be had. Working closer to home was a big thing.. and not having to work for promotions to get to level three of the job was even better. I thanked my lucky stars for the opportunity… and Rangi agreed.

Things couldn’t be much better. Despite the volcano. Now I just had to get Mom to calm down over the whole volcano thing.. and things would finally be back to normal. Or, as normal as they can be when you live by an active volcano.

Chapter 1.6 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 1.8

Chapter 1.5 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 1.7

Generation One: Black

Appearance: Black hair, siren-like clothing style
Traits: Evil, Non Committal, Kleptomaniac
Aspiration: Renaissance Sim
Occupation: Collector/Random careers of choice
House Goal: 10,000 worth

Messy Days

I start this journal entry off with good news. The town has brought in a restaurant! Instead of two beaches and a Bar, now we have a place to go on dates or family outings without having to take the bus to the city – which very few islanders are willing to do, including us.

Also, I had to expand the bathroom to allow for Austen to get his first bath. Showering outside just isn’t feasible for a toddler, and it hasn’t rained in a while, either… so a bathtub was a necessary addition to the house, for all of us. I couldn’t wait to take my first HOT bath in my life. Since we had, you know, actual plumbing – that I hadn’t had while growing up.

Rangi was the first one to use it, however, and Austen, little fish man as he is, had a blast in the water, splashing and playing with the bubbles, and generally soaking poor Rangi. (Who didn’t REALLY mind, he just tried to act like he did.)

Right after his bath, however, he escaped Rangi’s attempts to dry and dress him.. and ended up running past me to the great outdoors in his all-together. Laughing, I chased our little wild child down and returned him to Rangi.

Taking time for ourselves is hard when there’s an active toddler in the house.. but sometimes you do what you have to. Messes can be cleaned up easily enough. (At least the indoor ones!)

The next morning .. is harvest fest. And of course, the gnomes invade. Eager to get some new seeds for my garden, I quickly appease one gnome, and send Rangi to appease another.

That didn’t work so well, though, and he ended up begging for forgiveness.

Luckily, said gnome finally relented, and we started getting a million packets of seeds. All over the house.

Which meant we had to watch our wild child, Austen, extra closely, just in case he decided to try those seed packets as food. (He didn’t.. but you just never know with toddlers!) He was, apparently, too busy banging pots and pans and trying to give everyone a headache.

The gnomes cheered me on while playing chess.. and I started noticing a peculiar, but familiar pain. We quickly called my mother, who swam over from the main islands to watch Austen, and off we went by bus to the hospital.

I hoped my pink booties were a good sign. This time the doctor seemed more competent.. thankfully. At least my heart didn’t end up where it didn’t belong. The procedure went smoothly, though, and practically before I knew it..

I had a daughter! Meet baby Kimber. Not Kimberly. Just Kimber. She’s utterly adorable, and such a sweet baby, just like Austen was. She slept most the way home on the bus, curled up in my arms. It was so very cute.

Upon getting home and taking care of the baby, I decided I needed to get back to working on my Charisma, which was falling behind my other skills for Renaissance Sim. I knew I needed to switch jobs soon, but part of me was going to miss the nice paycheck I got for being an astronaut in training. That.. and I was SO close to that promotion to full astronaut. I just wanted that one trip into space… then I could move on.

We discovered today that making messes really helps with the imagination skill, so we let him make as many messes as he wanted. There’s enough time to teach him responsibility and not making them when he grows up.

… And let me tell you, there were a LOT of messes. Big ones, little ones, ones in the front of the house, some by the garden.. The worst part was getting the paint, flour and cocoa powder out of the volcanic dirt. But I digress.

My garden is coming along nicely, and my skill there keeps slowly improving. I now have some flowers growing in addition to the island fruits and vegetables. If nothing else, the flowers sell very nice at market, and we can always use a little bit extra cash. Raising two kids isn’t cheap.

And in case you’re wondering, I still LOVE being a mermaid. Although the silly need to flap my arms and sound like a dolphin sometimes gets me weird looks. I can’t help it.

We have been very lucky with Kimber, though, she’s been so easy to take care of, you hardly notice she’s there. It helps that Rangi has turned out to be such an awesome dad, taking care of her a lot of the time to take the burden of it off of me.

Two kids.. is still exhausting, though. And sometimes, I pay the price of pushing myself a little too hard. I just have so many goals, it’s sometimes hard to know when to stop. Until my body simply says it can do no more. Then, I have to stop whether I like it or not.

Then, the day was over. And the whole family asleep. At least for a little while. But I’ll take what I can get when it comes to sleep (as most parents will tell you) .. and we’ll see you in the morning.

Chapter 1.5 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 1.7

House 009 Chapter 5 < | > House 009 Chapter 7

Checking on our goals:

House 009 Building Goals:
Build a disguised underground lair with no ground floor walls
(I think I can consider this complete)
House 009 Generational Goals:
Level 10 Diamond Agent branch of the Secret Agent career on The Drifter
Level 11 of the Villain branch of the Secret Agent Career on The Secondary Sim
At Level 4 Field Agent, add a Gym to Burners and Builders in Oasis Springs
Raise the heir to Young Adult age (must take Vegetarian trait) (child)

Welcome back!

Bathing a dog in a dirty bathtub. Seems counter-intuitive. After this picture, I make Eva upgrade the plumbing with self-cleaning.

Cassidy.. you do realize that all you’re doing is blocking the adults from actually taking CARE of the screaming baby, right??

Fixing that dollhouse that got broke last chapter…

Playing with the dog. Doing something useful.

Looks like learning Mental skill is giving Cassidy a headache. LOL I relate.

Doing his work task, browsing the intelligence database.

She decided randomly to use this.. and got logic 9 all on her own.

It’s springfest.. so they’re gardening for the holiday I set up. They also go hunting for eggs and cleaning the house. There’s always plenty to clean up, even with the maid coming all the time, so that works out.

Chatting up Blarffy. He’s always good for the social skill.

Cole watching Cassidy helping out by mopping while Eva finishes up with a sink upgrade. Cassidy seems to clean a lot, strangely enough.

.. And poke at her sister, Brynlee. I realize just now that I STILL hadn’t introduced the baby.

And she’s now a toddler. Sigh. She’s pretty darn cute, though!

Who’s cuter.. the dogs? Or the toddler… tough choice.

And this is what I deal with constantly. Watching to stop the dog fights. Aggressive dogs are rather annoying.

Aww.. sister playtime!

New year’s resolution complete – Karson finally got a promotion!

And can start on the path to becoming a villain. Man, I hope I have enough time to max that career….

They take a cute picture, though. Too bad it’s dark outside.

Another dog fight.. and why is there dog puke on the floor?

.. Turns out Jack is sick again. Back to the vet.

We oughta have a discount plan here, I’m tellin you what…

Maybe he’ll finish his aspiration.. but I doubt it. He never sticks to exercising for long. And I forget about it.

Sure.. take it out on the doggie. Hazley seems unimpressed.

Annnddd.. toddler down! Medic! Wait, no, she’s just sleeping. Poor thing.

The whole family. In a clean room. Wonder what the dogs are doing?? Getting into trouble, most likely.

Eva needs Charisma for work .. so back to the mirror.

Both parents are at work.. so they’re missing the moodlets.. but .. oh.. no.. Jack. 🙁

The nanny is the first to show up. Cassidy is too busy eating.

But the fish eye that Brynlee is giving Grimm is hilarious.

Aww.. So sad. The feels! I feel so bad for all the little simmies.

Cute little urn, though.

And then Brynlee yells at Grimm, making him go “AHH Toddler attack!” and I about lose it laughing. Brynlee is clearly not impressed with Grimm taking her pet!

Brynlee is a toddler of many emotions, but mostly grumpiness. Here she is complaining about learning her flash cards. Look closely, the eyes give away the mood. LOL.

Hey! Not on the dog! *dies laughing* Ok, so it totally looked like she was pouring paint on Hazley.

…And Hazley seemed to enjoy it? Also, why make a disaster if you’re just going to clean it up…?

Good doggy. Get that vampire! Our front door is dangerous.

Whew.. everyone is sleeping.

.. And yes.. I mean everyone. It’s safe to save and move on to the next save. See you next time!

House 009 Chapter 5 < | > House 009 Chapter 7

Chapter One | Island Spirits Welcome page | Chapter Three

Nork’s feet hurt. He was tired of following Utel through the wilderness. A chance to stop and rest sounded perfect, and as they arrived, the two of them parted wordlessly to go about their own business. Utel went off on her search for plants (At least, that’s what Nork figured she was doing…) and he set up the camp and got out his fishing gear.

He grumbled inwardly about having to set up the camp by himself, but his highest priority was his growling stomach.. so fishing it was. He fished… and fished… and fished.

For a while, all he caught was weeds. At least he was spared the humiliation of Utel laughing at him over it. She still had yet to reappear.

In fact, she didn’t come back until he had gotten so desperate he was catching frogs for bait. Of course, she laughed at him and offered him some of her infernal strawberries. He refused on principle, and went back to fishing.

The shadows were long by the time he had finally caught a fish big enough to be worth eating, and he sat down wearily to cook it.

Utel wisely left Nork alone, feeling that he was as prickly as the cactus they’d passed in the desert. She felt much better herself – refreshed, even, after paddling about the stream for a bit to get clean and taking care of other business in a handy bush. She worried about her strawberry supply lasting for the whole journey, but she’d seen some bushes with almost ripe berries on them – perhaps they would be ready to pick tomorrow. Leaving Nork to his hard-won fish, Utel turned in for the night.

The next morning, she was up early in the rain. She played happily for a minute or two, then went about her morning business. She had berries to pick. Sure enough the bushes she’d seen had ripened overnight, and there were some flowers and herbs to pick, too. She wasn’t sure if they had medical applications, but she dutifully picked them anyway, planning to experiment with them once they had arrived at their new home. It was afternoon by the time she finished, and headed back to the camp.

Nork was fuming. The rain was incessant, and had made catching a fish for breakfast way less than fun. And where had Utel been off to all day? He had had to tend the fire in the rain and try to catch his breakfast all at the same time. He thought tending fire was a woman’s job, beneath him… but he needed that fire for when he caught fish.. so he tended it all the same.

After finally catching a fish, he sat down, ate it, and continued to tend the stupid fire in the stupid rain. Waiting for Utel. By the time she came back, Nork was utterly done. Done with the rain, done with this place.

“We GO.” Nork said simply, putting out the fire in one dash of water and beginning to pack up camp. Luckily, Utel said nothing, just pitched in to take the tent down and get the fire to a transportable state.

They walked in silence for the rest of the day, watching as the trees slowly grew taller and covered in vines. Utel was fascinated by the plant life, but she didn’t see much that she could harvest, so most of it she left alone.

Before long, the trees utterly dwarfed them. Utel scavenged for some rock crystals, never knowing what they might be useful for, and felt very small indeed.

They stopped for the night deep in the forest. There wasn’t a fishing area to be seen, and Nork, who was still out of sorts from the constant rain at the meadow, had to partake of some of her precious stock of berries. His grouchiness made for a long night, but a short morning as they made quick work of picking up their camp and moving on.

Finally, they came across another fishing area, and while they didn’t want to stop for the night yet, Nork insisted he be given time to get a “proper meal.” So Utel set up the fire and waited.

Luckily, the fish were plentiful and Nork had no trouble catching a decent sized fish. Neither had ever seen a fish like it – but it was certainly food. Nork cooked it, ate it, and then helped dismantle the fire so they could move on.

The deeper they went into this jungle, the more perilous the way became. There were many sorts of creatures the like of which they had never seen before. Bright green snakes, strange hooting creatures hanging from the trees, and the feeling of predators lurking around every corner.

Neither dared to stop long enough to do more than eat a few berries and continue. After a particularly scary near miss with a black jungle cat, they decided walking through the night was the best course of action, and Nork made makeshift spears for protection, and on they trudged.

At another point, Nork got attacked by spiders, and got a couple nasty bites. Utel worried about them, but hoped the town mystic would have some sort of medicine to help him out. Nork didn’t like being worried over, of course, so he brushed aside her concern, and on they walked into the lightening sky.

The longer the walk, the shorter the trees… and slowly, the terrain underfoot turned to sand. Soft, lush beach sand like Utel remembered from her dream. Somehow, without missing a beat, she knew exactly where to go… and they emerged from their jungle trek nearly on top of the mystic’s hut.

Saelua was thrilled to see them, and hustled them to her warm fire to hear the tale of their journey. Upon seeing Nork’s spider bites, she tsked to herself, and went into her hut for a while. She came out with food for both of them, and herbs to put on Nork’s wounds. They all ate peacefully, relating the tale of their trek as they ate. Uacro played not far from them, pretending he wasn’t interested, but Utel could tell the boy caught every word. This was a story of adventure he would surely embellish and tell all his island friends. Utel smiled to herself just thinking about it.

After eating, Saelua took them through the village, up a hill, to meet the chief. They needed his permission before actually joining the tribe or even camping in the area.

The chief’s name was Guar Doknen, and he seemed reluctant to let them stay. However, he did see the wisdom in allowing them to at least set up camp on a nearby island, and gave them directions to find it. He also told Nork where he could find the village fishing camp, should he want to help out in the morning in return for the Chief letting them camp here.

It was dark before they got to the camping place Guar had mentioned, and they quickly set up camp and went to sleep. It had been an EXHAUSTING journey. One they were glad to have over. Now they just had to make sure they were accepted into this tribe.. but only good skills and personalities would do that.. and right now, their only skill left was in falling asleep. Perhaps tomorrow would be better. Utel had faith that Saelua also would put in a good word for them, and that things would turn out well.. while Nork saw the more pessimistic side, and was sure they would be out on their rumps by morning. Figures, Utel thought. That’s Nork for you. She chuckled to herself, and slid into a dreamless, deep, restful sleep.

Chapter One | Island Spirits Welcome page | Chapter Three

Chapter 1.4 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 1.6

Generation One: Black

Appearance: Black hair, siren-like clothing style
Traits: Evil, Non Committal, Kleptomaniac
Aspiration: Renaissance Sim
Occupation: Collector/Random careers of choice
House Goal: 10,000 worth

Little Feet

The bus trip to the hospital seemed to take forever, even though the bus driver was speeding, just for me. He clearly didn’t want the baby to be born on the bus any more than I did. The pains came and went, which is what they’re supposed to do, but it really was nerve wracking.

By the time I got to the hospital, I was more than ready to have this whole thing done with, and was praying for a girl so I wouldn’t have to have another baby. The receptionist.. was a ghost.. which was weird. But I wasn’t about to argue with it, I just wanted to see a doctor and get this baby born.

They drug me to a back room, had me change, and then stuck me in this hideous machine. I was not impressed, especially when the “doctor” seemed to have trouble remembering what he was going in there FOR. Seeing my heart outside my body was pretty scary, although he put it back quickly, probably hoping I hadn’t noticed.

Before long, however, my precious firstborn was here. We named him Austen, and he was adorable. Not a girl.. but we could always try again. After everything was said and done, the labor pains had been worth it. I had an amazing little boy. I quickly changed, and we headed back home before the doctor could try to remove anything else that was supposed to be left inside.

Because we didn’t have another room built yet, we put Austen in the living room – there certainly wasn’t any extra room in our bedroom, and both of us like our sleep. It’d be best if only one of us had to get up at a time for a crying baby. I, obviously, took the next day off work to recuperate and cuddle my newborn.

Rangi went to work, though, so I was left on my own with the baby. Luckily, Austen seemed the agreeable sort, and he even left me time for reading up on gardening. I didn’t want to leave him on his own, so I was just around the corner from him.

After a while, however, reading gardening books gets old.. so I took a chance, left the front door open, and went to build some new furniture. We could use a bigger dining table and the chairs I had were so rickety, I really wanted safer chairs for while Austen was growing up. I had already bought the lumber for it.. I just needed to shape it and put it together.

It turned out to be more than a one day task, however, and my arms got tired.. so I was back to my gardening book. Rangi got home, and needed to learn logic for work, so he played some chess. It was a nice, quiet evening as a family.

It took a couple days, but I had managed to get the local construction crews up here to expand our bedroom, and add on one for Austen. Also, I built a mirror for our room, and finished the dining table and chairs. By this time, Austen had grown into a toddler with a bit of a wild streak. Apparently his calm baby days were behind us.

And then the lava came down again. It terrified Austen, and I spent a couple hours calming him down afterwards, insisting it was a good thing because tomorrow we would have treasure rocks to open up.

Austen, however, was getting into everything. Every time I turned my back, he was into something else. Today it was the kitchen cupboards. Who knows what it would be tomorrow.

The new tables were working out beautifully, though, and family dinners kept Austen at least kind of quiet. We got him to bed early that night, and took some time for just Rangi and me.

Later, while Rangi was sleeping. I found out good news. I was pregnant again! Hopefully THIS one would be the girl I needed. Now.. to figure out how to tell Rangi….

Chapter 1.4 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 1.6