Apple Grove: A Prosperity Challenge

2020-01-01T18:01:00.004-06:00

Introductions and Families:
Welcome to Apple Grove: A Place of Prosperity

Behind the Scenes Stuff:
Christmas and the New Time Reckoning
Time Reckoning in Apple Grove (outdated)
The Sims 3: My Opinion
I'm back, finally
List of Sims in Apple Grove
Name Changes
True Colors
Changes in Round 6

Round 1 / 1985-1991:
The Tuckers: Round 1 / First Love or... Old Wrinkly Love!
The Fletchers: Round 1 / Growing Up and Goals
The Webb(s): Round 1 / No Longer Lonely, No Sirree!
The Bauers: Round 1 / Similarly Different
The Hamiltons: Round 1 / Pound Purries
The Browns: Round 1 / Home Alone
University: Round 1 / The Fletcher Kids

Round 2 / 1992-1998:
The Tuckers: Round 2 / Invisibility and Boredom
The Webbs: Round 2 / Ice Cream, Donuts, and Cake!
The Bauers: Round 2 / Wishing For Boys
The Hamiltons: Round 2 / The Girl That Disappeared
The Browns: Round 2 / Stacey the Stalker
University: Round 2 / Too Many Hobbies

Round 3 / 1999-2005:
The Tuckers: Round 3 / Minus One, Plus Four
The Fletcher(s): Round 3 / Home Fries
The Webbs: Round 3 / Sorry, No Pets Yet
The Bauers: Round 3 / The Complete Family
The Hamiltons: Round 3 / Holy Cats!
The Brown(s): Round 3 / The BRC and the Cult Leader
University Round 3: Sorority Sisters Find the Volauvent Society
Kimberly Tucker: Round 3 / A Great Match
The Tucker(s) 2: Round 3 / I'm Just A Gigolo
Sophie Fletcher: Round 3 / Witchy Woman
Zoe Tucker: Round 3 / Witch Guy?
Lara Fletcher: Round 3 / The Fancey Fellow

Round 4 / 2006-2012:
The Tuckers: Round 4 / It Makes the World Go Round
The Fletcher(s): Round 4 / The Bachelor in Black Spandex
The Webbs: Round 4 / Que Sera, Sera
The Bauers: Round 4 / A Family Vacation
The Hamiltons: Round 4 / That Darn Cat
The Browns: Round 4 / What's Cooking?
University Round 4/ The Webb Kids
The Shibatas: Round 4 / Honey
The Tuckers 2: Round 4 / Hey, Hey I Wanna Be a Rockstar
Sophie Fletcher: Round 4 / Witch Path
The Fletchers 2: Round 4 / Where's the Beef?
The Fanceys: Round 4 / Do You Have Any Coupons?
Rose and Violet Hamilton: Round 4 / Nuts and Fruits

Round 5 / 2013-2019:
The Tuckers: Round 5 / Martin Marries & More
The Fletchers: Round 5 / Lady In Red
The Webbs: Round 5 / I'm Holding Out For A Hero
The Bauers: Round 5 / Delusional Days (Years)
The Hamiltons: Round 5 / The Great State of Applebama
The Browns: Round 5 / The Secret's in the Sauce
University Round 5 / University of Applebama
The Shibatas: Round 5 / Desire, Adore & Cherish
The Tuckers 2: Round 5 / Scandal in Apple Grove?
The Grahams: Round 5 / Sophie's Sorcery Shop
The Fletchers 2: Round 5 / EAT MOR CHIKIN
The Fanceys: Round 5 / Serenity Now
The Jeffresses and Miguels: Round 5 / Strawberry Limeade
The Todds: Round 5 / And On That Farm They Had Some...Rockin' Cockatoos
The Foremans: Round 5 / Big Ambitions, Tiny House
The ~~Cormiers~~ Andersons: Round 5 / Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Warm In A Glass

Round 6 / 2020-2026:
The Tuckers: Round 6 / Common Nonsense
The Fletchers: Round 6 / Swift and Terrible-ish
The Webbs: Round 6 / Three Weddings and a Baby
The Bauers: Round 6 / Dog Tired
The Hamiltons: Round 6 / Two Cats Forward and One Cat Back
The Browns: Round 6 / Bigfoot Named My Baby
University: Round 6 / Love and War
The Shibatas: Round 6 / True Love
The Tuckers 2: Round 6 / Who's Your Daddy?
The Grahams: Round 6 / Cruel To Be Kind
The Fletchers 2: Round 6 / The Warlock Pirate
The Fanceys: Round 6 / Fancey Pants
The Jeffresses and Miguels: Round 6, pt. 1 / Put Banana Here
The Jeffresses and Miguels: Round 6 - pt. 2 / How Many Tweets?
The Todds: Round 6 / Extensive Vamping
The Foremans: Round 6 / In a Box with a Fox In Socks
The Andersons: Round 6 / Do We Gotta Catch Em All?!
The Pedersons and Porters: Round 6 / Life Is Like a Box of Crayons
The Grahams 2: Round 6 / Rooms With a Vu

Round 7 / December 2027 - Christmas!
The Tuckers: Round 7 / Justin Time For Christmas
The Fletchers: Round 7 / Chevy's Christmas Vacation
The Webbs: Round 7 / Fangs, Not Claus
The Bauers: Round 7 / The Christmas Wedding
The Hamiltons: Round 7 / The Ghost of Christmas Cat
The Browns: Round 7 / The Vamp Who Stole Christmas?
University: Round 7 / The Nightmare Before, During, and After Christmas
The Shibatas: Round 7 / Santa Baby?

The Shibatas: Round 7 / Santa Baby?

2012-01-27T15:17:00.004-06:00

As we arrive at the Shibata house, it's somewhat decorated for Christmas, and there's already plenty of snow.

This is just a reminder of who's who in the Shibata family.

Click to see bigger pic

Kimberly's family tree shows that she's one of the Tucker kids. She and Ravi have 6 girls, but Kimberly only gave birth to 3 of them...

Click to see bigger pic

...because Desire, and twins True and Love were from alien abductions. Ravi now has enough children to fulfill his LTW to marry off 6 children. It's just unfortunate that none of them are male heirs.

Because of that and Kimberly's age, she's taking fertility treatments so that she and Ravi can try again for a male heir. This round of treatments cost them §10,000, so they're really hoping they work.

Honey, the oldest girl, is not as sweet as her name implies. With her 1 nice point (which I guess we could say is actually 9 mean points), she regularly gives her half-sister Desire noogies. Desire has 7 nice points, so she just takes it.

But just because she puts up with it doesn't mean she has to like it.

Ravi is a Romance sim, who thankfully still seems quite enthusiastic about woohoo with his wife. Now if he can can only use that keen interest to make a son...

Soon thereafter, Ravi went outside to play on the dance sphere, and disappeared. Maybe it's a secret portal to another world...where they have probes. Maybe Ravi will be the one to give them a son. It won't matter if he's a green boy. They just really need an heir.

The upstairs hallway of the Shibata's house is large enough that it's used for a nursery. I couldn't resist getting some awesome toddler beds from MTS. Now True and Love can go to bed and get up whenever they want.

Love is finally beginning to show signs that she's not 100% human.

And so is True, who is not wanting to learn Simlish.

Umm... what the heck, girl! Honey invited her boyfriend Havelock Graham over - and they headed right for her parents bedroom, stripped... and started to get into bed together until I made them get out of there. She's 18 years old now, but still... I think reinstalling my game messed up ACR, so I had to go back and reinstall it too. I don't have Inteen or anything, so this is not something Apple Grove teens are normally able to do.

So, since I wouldn't let them do what they really wanted to do, they had to settle for going steady. Maybe they will get to do what they want in college, although it's not without its consequences as we found out in the last update.

Not to be outdone by her sister, Desire invited over Magnus Danaher, a rooster-headed tourist boy she met when she made a wish on the wishing well.

BTW, I love toddler beds! :)

It's birthday time for Adore and Cherish. This is Adore.

And Adore is still adorable as a teen.

Adore wants a lot of money, as well as to have a lot of fun. She likes athletic guys who wear cologne, but she doesn't like hats.

She wants to be a professional party guest, and I can't argue with that, since that's a relatively easy one, especially after going to college.

It's also Cherish's birthday. She's making a wish, and I hope it's a good one.

Cherish is also quite pretty, but she chose a rather skimpy outfit for December.

Cherish wants a lot of friends, and she also wants to have a family. She likes guys that are fit, but can also cook. She'd prefer that they weren't very career-oriented. Maybe she wants her guy to be a stay-at-home-dad that cooks for her and works out.

Cherish would like to reach the top of the Law career.

Justin showed up, and for the first time he was wearing his wig and red cap, or maybe it's actually the real Santa.

He doesn't look too happy with me. I think I may be on his naughty list for not believing in him for the last several updates.

Even though they're almost broke from the fertility treatments, Kimberly got an awesome washer and dryer for Christmas.

Kimberly must have baked some good cookies, because Santa left them a stereo. Since they already have a stereo, I decided to put it in Adore's inventory. She's the nicest of the family, with 10 nice points, so I figure Santa would approve.

Honey didn't deserve any presents, as she's still giving out noogies every chance she gets.

Cherish wants to get the Extraterrestrial Reparations Grant. She just doesn't want to actually earn it by stargazing.

Adore is really great to have around now that she's big enough to help with her little sisters.

Cherish decided to put the wishing well to the test to get a first kiss. She got this bald-headed guy named Aren Tellerman. I can't remember where I've seen Aren before, but I do remember that I don't like him at all.

Honey is headed off early one morning after Christmas. She's getting ready to leave for college.

Despite being mean, Honey did work really hard and earned a lot of scholarships.

Adore was upstairs with her little sisters when Honey was leaving, and in her adorable way, slid down the banister to hurry down to say goodbye.

Kimberly and Ravi also came out to see their eldest daughter off to the taxi.

But they're not sad, they're celebrating having one less kid in the house.

Yeah, they seem like they're going to be just fine.

And now as we leave the Shibata house, we can wonder whether or not fate or Santa will send them more kids - and hopefully at least one baby boy.

Scoring: No changes.

University: Round 7 / The Nightmare Before, During, and After Christmas

2012-01-19T13:09:00.025-06:00

Welcome to the University of Applebama Christmas Special! I am your host, Mr. Melty, and I will be showing you just a fraction of what happened at U of A in Round 7, because I'm melting from all the heat and drama.

I may seem like a simple snowman, but I've been around to observe a few things here on campus in my short incarnation. Michelle asked me to do this update because she said playing University is such a soul-sapping chore, even with all the fun drama. But honestly, I think she just doesn't really doesn't want to associate herself with all the glaring timeline inconsistencies. Let the snowman take the fall, she said. Well, she threatened to steal my nose if I didn't do a good job, so here goes. Please leave nice comments, because in my brief remaining time I'd rather have everything smell like carrots than smell nothing at all.

But first we have to back up a bit to before I was rolled up, because Michelle says she almost lost her mind on the last round and couldn't bring herself to completely finish. I think she's exaggerating a bit, because the seniors really needed to stay so they could bring in the new students. The students are in the second half of their last semester. Nerissa Goldman is being made to wear the chicken suit she came to University in. She thinks it's funny, but maybe she doesn't realize Michelle has given her a life sentence for breaking her son Christopher's heart.

And it's not only Nerissa who must wear the chicken suit, but her love interest Manuel has been sentenced for life also. Manuel is from Twikkii Island. He was seen there recently when Rudy Fletcher's family was there, but Michelle didn't want to say who the chicken man was back then. Michelle says she really hates spoilers.

Anyway, they'd better hope their feelings never change, because Michelle said these birds are paired for life.

Nerissa is not sure she likes Michelle's idea of justice. The outside temperature is currently nice and cool, but what about the hot summer months? Won't these suits be hot, sweaty and smelly in the heat?

Manuel thinks wearing chicken suits for life is preferable to jail. Well, his relief might be premature, but we'll have to wait until the end of Round 7 to see their new accommodations. I'm not sure if I'll last that long, but I'm sure you'll get to see it.

Christopher seems happy now. He's found a new girl named Demi Peshterianu that he really likes.

However, that doesn't stop him from continuing to beat up on the chickens.

Ian has found a new girl too. As much as he tried to stay loyal to his first girlfriend Cathy Oates, they just didn't have much chemistry. He couldn't resist the temptation of April Alioto, a three bolt match.

April actually seems really pleased to be dating a werewolf.

And this is about the point when Wendy's showed up.

Unfortunately, that was also when she fell in love with her Uncle Washington who later woohooed her cousin Coupon in the hot tub at the Webb family Christmas party.

Coupon also arrived at U of A just after Wendy's. Both of them have made it into the Greek house.

Michelle decided to move some of the eternal teens to U of A this time. This is George's steady girlfriend Jessica. All the new townies will be starting out in the dorms until there's room for them in the Greek house.

And this is a real bast from the past. This is Stacy the Stalker who used to be obsessed with Daniel Brown so many years ago in Round 2. Michelle decided to send her to college, and says she hasn't regretted it at all. As a matter of fact, I think she likes her best of all the new students. Her lack of aspiration as a teen might have been what caused her to obsess over Daniel. Once she got her ~~lobotomy~~ Grilled Cheese aspiration all those years ago, she became quite manageable.

And this is another blast from the past. This is Willow, a girl that gave Charles Fletcher his first kiss back in Round 1.

George Hamilton also arrived safely on campus and moved into the Greek house.

This is Don Majekodunmi, a boy Coupon met and fell in love with while she was on vacation at Three Lakes in Round 6.

And last, but not least, this is Alvin Howe, Wendy's Fletcher's boyfriend from Round 6.

Since Michelle's son Jason married the eternal cheerleader Mehrissa Dai, there is now a new cheerleader. Her name is Bronwyn Xicaro?! and she is very pale with freckles. To me she looks like she was made out of dirty snow.

It's almost party time at the Urele House, and Dagmar Tucker is visiting. She's there to see Andrew Cameron who always hangs around at the Greek house. Andrew is secretly the real father of her youngest child Blondie.

Uh-oh, trouble is already brewing as Wendy's seems to have kind of forgotten about Alvin in favor of this new guy.

Like a rockstar, Brian Tucker just showed up and crashed the party, and now he's suddenly "in love" with Willow. I'm not sure why he turned away for a moment. Maybe he's afraid his wife caught him flirting, but luckily for him it seems she didn't.

After that, he was so busy checking out Willow, that he forgot to catch his wife when she tried to jump into his arms.

Sim Michelle looks unhappy to be at the Greek house. She knows these parties usually kill relationships, so she's feeling especially concerned. She and Scott wouldn't even be at this terrible place except...

Their sons Ian and Christopher are graduating. They are especially excited for Ian who has had his challenges with being a werewolf.

Unfortunately, they forgot to get a picture before he transformed for the night. All four of the seniors are graduating Summa Cum Laude.

~~Santa~~ Justin Case showed up. He still hasn't found his red hat, so I just don't think I can take him seriously until he does. I've been at the North Pole in previous lives and I've seen Santa, and this guy is an imposter. I'm 91.3% sure.

Michelle never throws graduation parties, so she was happily surprised to get a picture of the brothers together. She was glad Nerissa and Washington weren't in it, because she's pretty mad at both of them right now.. It's unfortunate that only one person can have a graduation party at a time. It was also unfortunate that Christopher didn't get to wear a hat, but one party seemed like more than enough.

As he was leaving, Ian looked pretty worried about going out into the real world as an adult. It's pretty scary sometimes, but I'm sure he'll do fine.

Christopher grew up in this outfit which Michelle said he would never choose to wear in real life, and then had to go directly to the taxi and didn't even get to stay to watch the cat fight between Wendy's and Coupon.

They are now turning their backs on each other as official enemies.

Here's a good Christmas picture of the Greek house. Unfortunately, I am not in this picture.

Washington has to move back in with his parents and big brother after graduation. They're not getting along very well, but he has nowhere else to go. Michelle doesn't feel sorry for him. She's still mad at him for all of the cheating drama. He's still engaged to Vyn the gardener, but I don't know what he's going to be allowed to do now. Michelle is probably not in a hurry to make his dreams come true after all the trouble he's caused. Nerissa moved out too, although Michelle didn't even bother to take her picture.

Coupon doesn't seem too unhappy that her Three Lakes boyfriend Don is flirting with Jessica, although she seems pleased that Jessica doesn't seem to like him. All the new freshman students are living in the Greek house now that all the seniors have graduated and left.

Willow was given a genie lamp, and wishes for beauty, wealth and peace of mind.

Don struck out with Jessica, but he had no trouble getting Willow's undivided attention. Now that all the Bauer kids have safely graduated, Michelle has allowed the Greek house to have a hot tub and a double bed. She said they can now use them at their own risk and suffer the consequences. I wonder what she meant by that.

George and Jessica are in a hurry to take things to the next level.

Wendy's decides to go for it with her boyfriend Alvin.

And then she kicks Coupon's butt again. Wendy's has more body points than Coupon, so she wins every time. Maybe Coupon should have thought it through before she slept with their Uncle Washington.

Coupon decided she wanted to get more fit. Michelle said she's sure it's got everything to do with getting revenge on her cousin Wendy's. And I must say that even as a snowman, I recognize a terrible outfit when I see one. This is hideous, but probably a fitting choice for Coupon.

Wendy's didn't really do anything with this guy Derek Lind, but she made Alvin mad at her for being the hot tub with him, and now he thinks she cheated on him.

Coupon has worked out enough that she can now kick Wendy's' butt. Alvin doesn't like violence. He's a lover, not a fighter.

Coupon decided to fool around in the hot tub with Dagmar's lover Andrew Cameron, the guy who fathered Blondie.

Coupon is calling Wendy's a slut for woohooing Alvin. Coupon is such a hypocrite.

Uh-oh. It looks like Jessica and George got started on their LTW's early. He wants to marry off 6 kids and she wants to have 6 grandchildren. I think I now understand what Michelle meant by "use at their own risk."

Wendy's got pregnant too, and Alvin is the father. George and Jessica moved out of the Greek house and into a rental house on campus, and since they're good friends with Wendy's they let her move in to help with paying the rent.

Even though he already has a baby on the way, back at the Greek house Alvin has learned nothing and he wasted no time jumping into the hot tub with Coupon. Coupon was glad to try and steal Alvin from Wendy's.

Even though they're family sims, I think Jessica and George are wondering how they can afford this baby.

Alvin is still mad at Wendy's for even thinking about cheating on him, even though he's been woohooing Wendy's cousin and enemy Coupon.

Justin Case came and left them a stereo. I was actually happy about that, because they have no money and could use some entertainment.

Of course, he then hogged the one bathroom. At least he had the decency to turn around while Jessica peed.

Since George really likes fat girls, I think he's pleased with Jessica's new curves. It looks like the baby will be here soon. I'll admit, I like the round snowgals myself.

Since they are so broke, George started writing a novel to help pay the bills. Michelle decided to use the Dungeons and Dragons Dice Roller to roll for the 44 different story elements, and this is what George has to work with. It ought to be interesting to make this into a story.

It was finally time for the baby. I see that Stacy is back to stalking - looking into the bedroom window trying to get the first glimpse.

On December 6, 2027 Jessica gave birth to a baby girl they named Petunia at 8:56 p.m. Petunia will have Jessica's maiden name Ajjanagadde.

Michelle thinks baby Petunia is adorable.

George thinks Wendy's is super hot. It sure makes Michelle nervous that he will try something stupid. Because they're so poor, baby Petunia will have to use a cardboard box for a crib.

Justin came back and left them a lump of coal. They had left out some burnt Santa cookies, so he wasn't happy with them. Thanks for nothing, fake Santa.

Meanwhile, back at the Urele House, Stacy met Count Vince McGaw. She has 2 bolts for him, which is more than she has for anyone else. He only has one major flaw besides needing to sleep all day. He doesn't like to discuss grilled cheese.

But he does make some beautiful sandwiches, even though he doesn't like discussing them. Michelle also says he's extremely attractive.

Stacy isn't hungry because she filled up on grilled cheese earlier, but still sits down with Count Vince to enjoy a toast with him while he has dinner. Bronwyn thought she should entertain the couple with some cheers.

Uh-oh, i t looks like Coupon might be pregnant too. Maybe she shouldn't have called Wendy's a slut and then woohooed her boyfriend.

She doesn't think she should let a possible pregnancy stop her activities. She decided to jump into the hot tub again, this time with Chandler Hamilton. Even though his last name is Hamilton, he's not related to Wendy's or George.

Now finally, after all this time at the Greek house while Coupon has been with several guys and Willow and Don have been a couple the entire time, Coupon decided that Don was her boyfriend, and that she's mad at him for cheating on her with Willow.

Uh-oh, it looks like Coupon has not escaped the consequences of all those bad decisions she's been making.

What the heck, Stacy?! I thought you were in love with the Count? Well, I guess when the mood hits and the Count is unavailable, this guy will do. Still, so far she had been saving herself, so I was disappointed in her. This is Derek Lind, the guy that Wendy's thought about woohooing. With his clothes on, he's the nerdy guy.

Coupon's pregnancy is progressing rapidly. She's not really sure what to do. She's not allowed to keep the baby at the Greek house or a dorm, and she can't move in with the other unwed mothers because they hate each other, and she can't afford a place of her own.

Coupon went into labor. Alvin was there, and was freaking out. I don't think it was concern for Coupon, really. I think he might be upset that he's still in college and will have to make 2 child support payments. And yes, Alvin is the real father. Again.

On December 11, 2027 at 7:26 p.m., Coupon gave birth to a baby boy she named Franc. He has brown hair and green eyes. Since Coupon has blue eyes and Alvin has gray eyes, I think it's interesting that he got green eyes.

Coupon looks sad as she contemplates what to do. She loves college life and the Greek house and doesn't want to leave.

So, she moved back home with Franc? No, that's her mother Lara - grandma to little Franc. Coupon thoughtfully sent baby Franc home to her parents so that she could stay and have fun at college with none of the responsibility. After all, she only has one nice point.

Michelle tried to get a good picture of Franc in his bouncy seat, but he was really sleepy. She says she'll spam you with pictures when she visits the Fancey house.

Back at George and Jessica's house, George has finished his novel and had been paid §3,059. It seems like a very weak plot to me, but what do I know? I'm just a snowman.

Wendy's baby was way overdue, and even though she got pregnant before Coupon, had still not given birth. On Christmas Eve, she had to leave for awhile and get out and walk around.

That seemed to trigger the contractions rather quickly. She gave birth to a baby girl she named Cinnabon on December 24, 2027 at 10:15 a.m.

Cinnabon is cute, with brown hair, freckles and bright green eyes. Wendy's does have green eyes and her hair is naturally brown. Michelle was hoping that Wendy's would give birth to a boy, because then her Aunt Zoe and Uncle Ravi could have adopted him to have a male heir. But it was not meant to be.

Coupon has found yet another lover because she's never satisfied and has learned nothing. Michelle says she's so much like her Aunt Sophie. This guy is named Alejandro Deppiesse.

Count Vince stopped by to bring his beautiful girlfriend an expensive gift. Michelle thinks Stacy should be feeling at least a twinge of guilt for having meaningless sex and not saving herself for the Count.

Willow and Don are at it again. Are they going to be smarter and learn from the mistakes of the other Greek house members, or will we hear a lullaby chime? Sorry, Michelle says you'll have to wait until Round 8.

As we leave U of A, it has not really felt like Christmas, but a little more like a long nightmare.

Well, I guess this is goodbye for now. Do you think she'll let me keep my nose? Anyway, in one form or another, I'll sure I'll see you again in one of my future incarnations.

Scoring: +2 Alvin and Coupon - Big Sim on Campus, +9 for adding Nerissa, Jessica, Alvin, Don, Stacy, Willow, Petunia, Franc and Cinnabon to the neighborhood. The population of Apple Grove is currently 101, with a total population of 103.

The Browns: Round 7 / The Vamp Who Stole Christmas?

2012-01-11T23:00:00.012-06:00

Count Chocula loves *Stephen, his bigfoot servant who is his best friend in the world.

As a reminder, here are all the members of the Brown family.

Daniel is really sad, because even though he always suspected his long-missing parents were probably dead, he now knows for sure. Their remains were recently discovered and returned to him. Knowing for sure they're dead gives him little comfort.

Like most sims, he prefers to have his dead parents interred in his backyard.

This is Daniel's family tree.

During his Christmas vacation, Count Chocula started his morning as he usually did. He baked himself a muffin for breakfast and ate alone since his parents had to be asleep when the sun was was out.

Stephen stayed pretty busy cleaning the house and gardening in the Browns' large yard.

Stephen was finally confident enough that he could take care of the Browns by himself. He chased the butler Marcel Thorne all over the house and yard and was finally able to corner him in the greenhouse to let him know that his services would no longer be required.

I thought that Marcel handled the news of his termination with great dignity.

The house is all decorated for Christmas. I really like this house, which is my makeover of 130 Sim Lane from Pleasantview.

I'm not sure why, but Daniel just won't stay put today, and keeps getting up to see the snow and the Christmas decorations. I guess he's getting excited to celebrate Christmas, but it won't be nearly as fun if he kills himself before his party.

Daniel's sister Devan showed up with Chevy to help watch him since she knew her brother and sister-in-law would be sleeping. Or they would be sleeping if they weren't constantly jumping out of their coffins. They definitely should be in bed! :P

Daniel and Contessa Hailey reluctantly agreed to stay alive by flying back down to bed. I think it's funny how they get snow on their wings, and yet are still able to fly.

Chocula invited a few friends over for the day, including his cousin Chevy.

Daniel, please! Stay in your damn coffin!

Devan said she was here to "watch the kids." I'm assuming that her true motive was to swim in her brother's awesome heated pool.

Stephen serves up a nutritious lunch for the kids.

Aunt Devan likes to hang around all day in her bikini. Chocula and his friend Jeremy Tang try not to stare.

Chevy enjoys dancing off some of that sugar.

What is it about the Santa cookies? For some reason, Stephen has gotten himself fit, and as far as I know, he hasn't exercised lately. I've noticed this strange phenomenon before with Santa cookies.

Stephen is exhausted from all the hard work he's done today, and has a melt down in the kitchen. I guess it's time to send him to bed for a bigfoot nap before he starts hurting people.

Great. Devan is now mad at herself. This seems to be going around. I hope it's not a really bad sign, but I'll try not to worry. One way or the other, I want Apple Grove to carry on, but I'd prefer not to have to rebuild the entire town.

After nightfall, it was time for the Browns' Christmas party. They invited a few guests that might not be invited to other parties, such as some of the other Grand Vampires from Apple City.

And the other Bigfoots that live in Apple Grove, Mark and Rawley.

And teen vamp Aleksei Todd, who despite a serious acne problem and hating being a vampire, managed to look happy.

And of course, Belladonna the vampire plantsim was invited. Sophie the Atrociously Evil Witch and her zombie servant Elmer Cormier were also there. This time Sophie actually flirted with her ~~boyfriend~~ slave Elmer instead of trying to steal someone else's man.

Count Sabastian did not want a hug from Stephen. Usually Sabastian wants to hug everyone, but I guess maybe he can't bite a bigfoot, so he doesn't see the point in making friends with them. Or maybe he's afraid of getting bigfoot hair all over his coat.

These two have 3 bolts for each other, so I was a little concerned about them, but they behaved themselves. I guess they were just catching up on old times.

Contessa Hailey can't resist the urge to try to turn her brother-in-law Charles. Thankfully, they're not friends, so he couldn't be compelled.

Yep, that was embarrassing for you, wasn't it Contessa? Well, too bad. I don't really need any more high maintenance vampires in Apple Grove anyway. But speaking of embarrassing....

Ah, this is priceless. Sophie had to tinkle, and didn't make it to the bathroom. It's especially bad for her that it happened at a party. Everyone had a good laugh excpet Elmer, who looked noticeably worried. I'm sure his mistress will punish him if he does laugh. I can't help but think this is Karma for all your past bad deeds, Sophie. Or maybe I've just watched too many episodes of My Name Is Earl lately.

I think it's funny that as Elmer shambled past Sophie, he stepped in her pee puddle.

Everyone sobered up and it was really awkward when Sophie began to cry.

Daniel look really perturbed that his Christmas party is being interrupted by an accident on his living room carpet. The Contessa volunteered to clean it up, and she still looks like she's laughing.

I thought Sophie would go home after that, but I guess she figured the damage was already done and she'd just hang around, much to the disgust of everyone around her.

Thankfully, the police arrived shortly thereafter to break up the party. Despite the pee incident, Daniel had a great party.

And after that, Santa (or Justin) arrived.

Contessa Hailey saw this as a wonderful opportunity to spread vampirism to the entire world.

That's right, a vampire Santa would have access to every house in the world, so he could go around giving the "gift of vampirism" on Christmas Eve instead of presents.

He seemed like he was on board for her evil plan.

That made the Contessa very happy. She and Santa were now the best of friends.

Santa didn't seem to be as fond of Daniel, but I guess he just really needed to pee now, and didn't want to be in a wet Santa suit all night out in the cold winter air.

As a vampire and a Celebrity Chef, I doubt Contessa Hailey would want people to know she secretly loves potato chips. I guess there must have been some left over from the party. She didn't normally like to stoop to such human follies, but she just couldn't resist the call of the deep-fried potato.

Is Count Chocula practicing for a future career in politics? Nah, he doesn't really have any interest in that. He just enjoys mocking politicians, who tend to belch out lots of hot, smelly air.

When Stephen isn't doing chores, he's often sitting alone at the poker table. Maybe in the future he can start inviting his hairy relatives over for a poker night now and then.

Daniel washed a window. I think he sometimes missed being able to enjoy feeling the warm sunshine on his face. Now it hurts too bad to bask in the sunlight, but he still enjoys the memories. It's also a bit sad for him that his telescope can only be used for stargazing at night. He used to enjoy spying on the neighbors, and often wishes he could still do that.

As we leave the Browns, we can wonder if Santa is out biting people as they sleep. I think Santa (if he is the real Santa) just gave Hailey the gift of believing he would, and that he's just fine. I think he's immune to the venom, but didn't want to disappoint her on Christmas.

Scoring: +3 - Contessa Hailey earned all her lifetime aspiration benefits.

*Even though he's not anatomically correct, Stephen is edited in this update for your protection. Photobucket often rejects the unedited bigfoot pictures, so I decided to give Stephen a Christmas theme. I apologize, as I personally think my editing makes him look even more naughty. ;)

The Hamiltons: Round 7 / The Ghost of Christmas Cat

2012-01-04T14:08:00.004-06:00

When we return to the Hamilton house, Beverly is doing the hula in her coach uniform, while her husband Forrest is on the phone trying to make a very important phone call. He's going to retire from his job as a prestidigitator.

Beverly is so happy that her husband is retired. She wants to retire as a Hall of Famer. She already achieved it, but for some reason, she's a coach again.

As a reminder, this is the Hamilton family again, including their many cats.

Hyacinth and her adopted brother George love to punch each other, but despite that, they're the best of friends.

This is their butler Charlie McClellan. He's actually more of the cats' butler. Since the cats all have jobs or get a pension, they can sort of afford him.

Since it's Christmas break, Hyacinth had her boyfriend Aerosmith over.

George invited over his steady girlfriend Jessica as well.

I have no idea why Forrest was so unhappy, but Beverly took the opportunity to try to cheer him up. Maybe he's unhappy that he retired, and maybe she's reminding him that he'll have much more time to spend with his cats.

And it's time to be of good cheer, because the Christmas festivities are officially underway.

Rose and Violet and their children came over for the party, as well as Beverly's sister Grace and her husband Clinton.

Forrest baked Christmas cookies for everyone. I'd like to think he was cheering up now, and getting into the Christmas spirit.

It looks like Clinton Webb is still mad at himself today.

He tried to cheer himself up by going outside to pet one of the Hamilton's many cats. It did not go well. I think Clinton needs glasses.

That was enough to send him home. I don't think he was really in the mood to celebrate anymore after his son Washington ruined his Christmas party.

Banana and Jessica are doing the smustle. Banana likes to dance the smustle every chance he gets. I guess Strawberry just isn't that into it yet.

Lime enjoyed playing with Dr. Watson. The cat tolerated him back. Lime is not his favorite human because he brought Gump back one of the times he ran away. Dr. Watson hates Gump.

I think this is the first time I've ever used the "holiday kiss" option that comes with the mistletoe.

Jessica serenaded George. Dr. Watson is less than impressed.

And the serenading continues as Aerosmith sings to Hyacinth.

Beverly and Forrest managed to sneak upstairs for some alone time during the party.

Poor Raspberry spent the entire party trying to figure out how to get downstairs.

When she got bored and tired, she said goodbye. Of course, she couldn't leave, because she can't get down the stairs.

I didn't realize sims could talk to other sims who are asleep, but Forrest tried to talk to Beverly about Jessica. Beverly was asleep for the end of her roof raiser party..

The Hamiltons are going to help try out the openable gifts from Paladin's Place for me. They didn't work at the Tucker's house because I was missing a file.

They worked this time. :) Beverly was surprisingly excited about getting a gaming system for Christmas. And everyone else was equally enthusiastic about it.

The other three gifts were all chess tables. Since they already had one in the basement, I guess the Hamiltons will have to have a yard sale in the spring when the weather improves.

Hyacinth magically squeezed her chess table into this small box and gave it to Aerosmith for Christmas. He already has one at his house too, but maybe he can put it in his bedroom, or re-gift it.

Instead of Santa, Acorn the creepy ghost cat is back to haunt. Last time she visited, she scared the pee out of George.

I had to pick her up and put her outside, as she kept getting herself stuck in the basement wall.

Aerosmith really enjoyed his Christmas date with Hyacinth and brought her flowers. You'd think with as much money as his rockstar dad makes, he could have also dropped off a nice Christmas present too, especially since she gave him one.

I didn't see it happen, but I guess the Hamilton's gnomes went missing during the party. It's sad when your own family steals from you. Forrest went out in his pajamas barefoot in the snow to steal them back. I think he's going senile.

This is just some more Christmas decoration spam. The colored lights are a nice change of pace, but they just don't show up as well as the white lights.

I was glad that Acorn decided to hang out in the greenhouse for the rest of the night instead of scaring people, because she's a bit freaky-looking.

Due to the heavy snow, both the kids had the next day off from school. George had a brilliant idea. He did some math and figured out that he's already 21 (I don't know how I missed that) and that it's high time to head off to college.

And he got quite a few scholarships, despite starting out at a disadvantage in life as an orphan.

Both of his adopted parents were very supportive of his decision to attend U of A and waved goodbye to him.

Hyacinth didn't bother to say goodbye, but maybe it was too painful for her. Then again, she'll still be seeing him at family get togethers, and she'll be joining him when he's halfway through school when she's 18 in 2 years.

Despite only being a coach, Beverly decided to throw in the towel and take her retirement. She did reach her LTW of becoming a Hall of Famer, but somehow she got demoted to coach. I really don't remember that happening.

And Hyacinth still had the snow day off from school, so she's testing the new backdoor in the basement. It will save them a lot of steps, plus I'm hoping next time the ghost cat visits, she can let herself out of the basement.

Click to see BIG picture

Scoring: No Changes.

The Bauers: Round 7 / The Christmas Wedding

2011-12-31T14:13:00.002-06:00

Scott and I are enjoying a laugh together. It may be the last one we have for awhile, because things are going to be busy during the holidays. We're going to be way too busy to have a family Christmas party.

Just for a reminder, these are the current residents of the Bauer household.

click to see BIG picture

And this is our most recent family tree.

Amiee is back from University of Applebama. Her boyfriend is named Ocean Cameron and those two naughty kids think they are headed upstairs to my bedroom, the only room with a double bed.

I don't think so, Amiee. I thwarted their plans by locking Ocean out of the bedroom. We have a strict real life policy, and even though I don't have a real daughter named Amiee, she's not married, so she's not going to be doing this in my house. She waited around like this for several hours, though, hoping to find a way around my rules.

Ocean waited in vain out in the hall. I don't think he likes me, LOL.

Jason is also back from U of A. He had invited over his girlfriend Mehrissa Dai, the eternal cheerleader. Scott is upset with her because she broke our robot toy.

Despite his lecture, she has no reservations about expressing how attractive she thinks Scott is. I'm measuring her head to see if it will fit in our toilet.

Scott reassured me that he only had eyes for me, and that I had no reason to worry about the annoying robot-breaking cheerleader.

And it's a good thing he's not interested, because she's moving in with us. Jason did a happy dance of joy, even though he looks ridiculous. But he's a man in love, so he doesn't care.

I'm not sure I trust Mehrissa, but I like her LTW, and the §17,000 she brought with her when she moved in.

Her money came in handy to help us build an addition onto to the back of the house. The house addition is what's under the flat roof, as well as an expanded basement.

Jason soon proposed to her right there in our kitchen, and she wisely accepted.

Amiee said goodbye to Ocean. His bad boy appeal seems to have worn off now that's she's older. They only have one bolt of attraction now for whatever reason, so I think she wants to date other people.

Um, yeah. This is awkward. This is the hobby lot instructor from the Arts and Crafts lot trying to deliver a hobby plaque to me at a most inopportune time. She even broke into the bedroom, because the door was supposed to be locked. And now, she is standing there admiring Scott, although I'm not entirely sure how she can see him since he's under the covers. I guess it's time to put nohobbyspam from MATY back into my game. I like my sims to get to meet other sims, but this is not what I had in mind.

Speaking of annoying people, I don't even know who this guy is. He shouldn't have a reason to kick over our trash. That's why I love the sentrybots. They make life better in Apple Grove. Yeah, there still may be a lot of trash to clean up, but it's worth it to get this kind of revenge. We got him good.

I just had to share this. It's just very funny to me because real life Scott really hates sports. I don't really like them much either, but I like them better than he does. The only sports-related thing we do as a family is attend (American) football games at the high school. We only go to watch Christopher play in the marching band. We usually leave after the halftime performance because it's just not that fun to sit in the uncomfortable bleachers and deal with the crowd.

Guests are now arriving for a party at the Bauer house. It's not a Christmas party, though.

The party guests are still wearing their coats and are warming up from the cold walk over by slap-dancing in the kitchen.

This party is a wedding party for Jason and Mehrissa. I was hoping for a double wedding, but it didn't work out with Amiee and Ocean. Do you like the chairs with the holiday bows? I was excited because I thought they looked good, with the added bonus of using the chairs that the Bauers already owned. This is something that appeals to me, as I am a frugal person, and I love DIY projects. That was not an easy trick to get the bows on the chairs, but it was done with Silentlucidity's shiftable OMSP's. Gosh, I love these. The bows are shifted up from the basement.

Anyway, back to the wedding. ;) I'm not sure if you can see him very well, but Wilson Webb made quite an entrance in his zebra-striped tuxedo. Even Jason and Mehrissa are temporarily mesmerized by his eye-catching tux.

I sure hope Mehrissa is the right sim for Jason. I don't want to have a repeat of Charity's bad experience with Elmer. It just seems so much more personal when bad stuff happens to my sim family than with other sims. My real son Jason is my buddy that I love to geek out with. When we get together, we have so much fun. We like to watch Doctor Who or other sci-fi stuff together. I don't want anything bad to happen to even the sim version of him.

And I always love this part of the sim weddings, although I'm not sure what got in the way of the picture there at the bottom right.

This is their bedroom in the new house addition with a new double bed for their wedding and Christmas gift. Jason looks especially happy to get a double bed. Because of my concerns about the bad influence of ACR, he's hardly ever seen a double bed. ;)

Someone is ringing, and it has to be Jason since Mehrissa doesn't yet have a cell phone. It was some girl asking Jason out on a date, LOL. I think he's going to have to pass. He's a little busy with his new bride.

Jason was happy that their wedding party was successful. It was a roof raiser. Mehrissa thinks Jason is very attractive, and she likes to tell him often. She should definitely keep her eyes on Jason and keep them off of Scott. She's in a very dangerous situation if she messes up things between Scott and Michelle.

I thought this was a sweet picture of the newlyweds. Hopefully these two will stay sweet and have a happy life together, especially since they're going to be parents. This will be either the 8th or 9th grandchild, since poor Charity is also pregnant - again.

Amiee did not have the best Christmas. She was happy for her brother Jason, but she was still in search of her own happiness since her boyfriend Ocean didn't really seem like the right match. She decided she might have more luck if she moved out of the house and away from the watchful eye of her mother. Yeah, well she can't really escape me. I'm still going to keep her out of trouble. ;)

But she left anyway, soon after Jason's wedding.

It's cold outside and poor Amiee forgot her coat. But it's not too sad of a departure since she'll still be in town. I have a good idea where she will move, and I think she'll like it.

And now we'll have to leave the Bauers for awhile. I like how the snow is coming down in big flakes in this picture. ~~Santa~~ Justin was once again missing, and I don't think we're on his naughty list. I think he must be on a bender or something.

Thank you for reading, dear friends. I hope you had a Merry Christmas, and I wish you a Happy New Year!

Scoring: +1 Michelle - Arts and Crafts plaque, +1 - added Mehrissa to the neighborhood. The population of Apple Grove is currently 92, with a total population of 94.

The Webbs: Round 7 / Fangs, Not Claus

2011-12-28T22:08:00.002-06:00

This is the Webb house at 135 Strudel Street. It's all decorated for an upcoming family Christmas party. A driveway and carport have been added since our last visit, as well as a pool and greenhouse in the backyard.

And this is just a reminder of who is who in the Webb house currently.

Besides the exterior lights, there are some Christmas decorations inside as well.

I think the kitchen and dining area looks especially festive. I sure wish I had remembered to light a fire in the fireplace for the picture, but then there was probably a good chance for a fire with the stockings, so maybe it was for the best. I'm not sure a fireman could have made it to the fire with all the guests that will be sure to be here for the party.

As the in the previous 2 houses, the first item of business on everyone's mind is getting some woohoo.

I've learned it's best just to go ahead and let them get it out of their system. :P

Click to see the BIG picture

Before the party starts, these family trees might be helpful to identify who is who. This might come in handy in just a minute to better understand the upcoming drama.

Click to see the BIG picture

Clinton's family tree is different from Grace's because she already had 4 children from her first marriage before she married him. They got married and had 2 of their own, Reagan and Wilson. Clinton had 2 of his own, Taft and Washington by alien abduction.

I see Wendy's wore the toga to the Christmas party. Sophie is there with Airell and Blair, but I decided that it wouldn't be wise for her ex-husband Daniel or any of her boys to show up.

Of course, Sophie is swooning over her stepsister Taft's hot husband Tyler instead of her zombie Elmer.

Even though it must have about 18" of clearance, the sentrybot can't get around the genie lamp that was left on the porch. :P

By the time I figured that out, Grace's grandson Chevy Fletcher had stolen both the gnomes from the front lawn. I was glad to see that Charles finally noticed he had a son and yelled at him. I like Chevy, but he does only have one nice point, plus he gets ignored too much by his parents. I guess I should expect him to act out a bit.

Well, the sentrybot finally got him. He was just laughing the other night about Mew Anderson getting zapped for trying to steal his newspaper.

Well, after getting yelled at by his dad and then zapped, it was just too much for him. He decided to run home.

Okay, so this will take some explaining. Washington and Coupon are flirting, and Wendy's is brokenhearted. Washington has been at U of A and is getting ready to graduate. He's engaged to someone else - a gardener named Vyn Bui. Since then, I have sent both Wendy's and Coupon to college and moved them into the Urele House. I played the house just a little, and discovered that Washington and Wendy's have some chemistry, and I guess they fell in love. I don't have pictures, so I don't entirely remember. So anyway, at the party, I guess Coupon and Washington discovered that they also have chemistry, and flirted right in front of Wendy's.

And what is weird is that Wendy's and Coupon are cousins, and Washington is their step-uncle, which is also a little creepy and gross.

Aunt Sophie was looking on in approval as Washington and Coupon took this nasty affair to a whole new level. Sophie has been Coupon's mentor for awhile now. Coupon loves her Aunt Sophie.

So, I think you know what happened next.

And eww, Washington's brother-in-law was watching the whole time. I guess as a romance sim, Tyler can't help being a bit of a perv.

Charles doesn't take his coat off, but goes for the Santa cookies. His crazy mom Grace and stepdad Clinton are dancing in their swimsuits in the dining room, but he doesn't seem surprised.

Devan is standing on - not a white rug, but snow. They've had this house for quite awhile now, but I just now noticed that it snows inside the living room area because of the hot tub upstairs. Bummer.

Jefferson was in the dining room for the party. I decided he needed a bouncy seat for Christmas. When he's downstairs all the time they tend to forget about him. Grace 2.0 is excellent at making sure all his needs are met, but the poor kid gets ignored a lot by his parents.

Despite the drama and sex, or possibly because of the drama and sex, Wilson threw a good Christmas party.

I guess Wilson had his head buried in the sand somewhere, because he completely missed how his engaged alien half-brother Washington had sex with his half-niece in the hot tub during the party. His wife Karen really enjoyed filling him in on the juicy details after the party.

I thought he was really mad at Karen for telling him and that it messed up their relationship...

But instead it made him totally lose respect for Washington, and it broke up their friendship.

After the party it looked like Grace 2.0 was going to throw away baby Jefferson, but it was just the Stop Dropping Baby Bottles hack that makes them throw the bottle away instead of dropping it on the floor. I guess the inside trash cans were full, so she took the baby outside to throw away the bottle.

I decided they should exchange some gifts for Christmas since Santa can't be counted on to show up. Grace has a really full inventory, so I thought she could re-gift some things. I don't remember what she gave Clinton.

But I know she's giving her daughter-in-law a teddy bear she made for Jefferson.

Clinton looks like he's mad at himself for impaling his arm with the shelf, but he's actually really mad at Washington for causing all that trouble at the party and for cheating on his fiancee.

In the background, Grace is giving Wilson a map and an old boot. This is also just another one of those pictures where I show off the Christmas decor. I'm really starting to love this house. I keep changing it as I play, and I'm almost happy with it now.

I also like how it looks at night with all the Christmas lights.

Alec Ebadi is very mad at Grace for beating him up when Havelock Graham was recently visiting the performing arts center, so he's getting even by recycling their newspaper. At this point, I realized the sentrybot has just disappeared. I believed this was probably going to get messy.

And I was right. Washington is mad at Wilson and his dad for daring to be mad at him about his bad behavior at the party, and so he came all the way from U of A to kick over their trash can.

Karen went to try to steal back the gnomes that Chevy Fletcher had stolen during the party, passing a mysterious stranger in a cloak.

Count Sabastian Harris was not invited over, didn't ring the doorbell or wait to be invited in, but just walked right in and made himself at home. Sabastian is one of the grand vampires from Apple City who recently married Belladonna Tucker and moved in with her at the Todd house. The Webbs were expecting Santa, but got a grand vampire instead.

I was concerned when he went directly downstairs and just stared at baby Jefferson. I was hoping he wasn't there to steal the baby. He's about to have one of his own soon anyway.

Alec came back for his turn at kicking over the trash can. Between Alec and Washington, the Webbs could be constantly cleaning up garbage. They decided it would be better to just leave the trash can on its side for the time being and just compost the trash.

Grace 2.0 looks a little concerned about the unexpected guest.

She does not want a hug. That's how Sabastian operates. He befriends people so that he can bite them and turn them into vampires. If he has his way, he'll infect the whole town.

Grace 2.0 is determined not to let that happen in their house.

I think Karen must want to be a vampire, but I guess the Count doesn't really like her. In his defense, she does have an awful stench coming off of her that's hard to embrace.

Grace wanted a ballet barre, or at least that's what her wants panel said. So for a Christmas gift I put one in her bedroom. She came upstairs and looked at it, and then walked away. She definitely seems to be getting senile.

Uh-oh. Grace 2.0 must be getting senile like her creator. She's completely forgotten to be cautious and is now hugging Count Sabastian.

I even thought she might try to get in the new hot tub with him. I'm glad she didn't though. BTW, they downgraded their hot tub to the above ground model because the other other was making it snow indoors.

And as we leave the lovely Webb house, I wonder about the future of the family. Will Washington make up with his father and brother? Will he be able to pick a girl and stick with her? Why did Count Sabastian just show up? Does he have sinister plans for the Webbs? This was not the merriest Christmas for the Webbs, but hopefully things will look up for them in the coming years.

Scoring: No changes.

The Fletchers: Round 7 / Chevy's Christmas Vacation

2011-12-25T18:30:00.002-06:00

My name is Chevy Fletcher, and I'm gonna be 9 on Christmas Eve. This is my family.

I live in a town called Apple Grove. I haven't ever lived anywhere else, but I think Apple Grove is a great place.

I live at 885 Orchard Way. I had to learn my address in school, just in case I ever get lost so I can tell a policeman. You can see my dad's car he fixed up in the driveway. My dad really likes cars. He took a car that was junk and turned it into a really cool car and painted it yellow way before I was born. Since my dad loves cars, that's why he named me Chevy.

I'm excited that it snowed. This is me, jumping on my bed. I got to sleep in late this morning because it was the first day of my Christmas vacation from school. I was very excited about the snow and just felt like jumping on my bed. Mom said I shouldn't jump on my bed because I might get too hot and a lady in a suit make come and take me away in a blue minivan. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but I'll be careful. I don't feel really hot now anyway since it's winter.

It sounded like Mom and Dad were jumping on their bed too, so I went downstairs to see if I could jump on their bed with them. But they were busy kissing and stuff, and that is so gross! I don't know why grown-ups like to do stuff like that, but I know for sure that I don't ever want to do that. I decided I would stay out of their room from now on unless I'm 100% sure they're wearing all their clothes and not kissing.

I figured since Mom and Dad were busy, they wouldn't notice if I did some more jumping. I am really excited about something else too. They said that they want me to have a little brother or sister. A lot of my school friends complain about having a little brother or sister because they cry and have stinky diapers and break their toys, but I think it might be interesting and fun, and I could teach 'em some cool stuff. I told them I want to get the baby for my birthday or Christmas, but they said they don't know for sure if they can get one since mom is getting old. If they can, it will take 9 months for it to get here. I don't understand why it takes so long. When we order stuff online, it usually gets here in 2 days. Maybe they make babies on Mars or something, because I've noticed that a lot of babies in Apple Grove are green.

The best thing about Christmas vacation is that I get a lot more time to play with my friends. I was allowed to invite my cousin Count Chocula over as long as we didn't make a lot of noise. Chocula doesn't have any brothers and sisters either, but he doesn't complain. He's so lucky because he has a Bigfoot living with him named Stephen. He said he spends most of his time with Stephen because Uncle Daniel and Aunt Hailey always sleep in the basement during the daytime and then stay up all night. I wonder why they're so sleepy in the daytime. Chocula gets to stay up as late as he wants, cuz that's the only time he gets to spend with his mom and dad, but sometimes he gets too tired to stay up, or he stays up late with them and then he's sleepy all day at school. Anyway, I hope he can invite me over to his house during Christmas vacation, because he has a big, fun house and lots of cool stuff.

Mom and Dad were taking a break from kissing and jumping on the bed to eat some grilled cheese and do some tai chi. Chocula and I were playing the funnest game ever, red hands. We have no idea why it's so fun.

For Christmas, mom got a kitchen sink. Even though I think cleaning stuff is fun because of all the bubbles, I don't understand why anyone would want a sink for Christmas. Sinks are boring.

I was really glad that Chocula left before mom and dad started the hugging and kissing again, because that would have been really embarrassing. Maybe if they'd stop kissing each other all the time, they could go get that baby faster. I'm not sure where they get them. It must be somewhere secret, because they didn't want to tell me about it when I asked.

I was excited when Santa came. He had blond short hair and no hat, and he smelled kind of funny. He ate some of the Christmas cookies we left out for him, and laughed a lot. Mom and Dad didn't get to see Santa because they were in their bedroom.

I guess Santa didn't like the cookies that much because he forgot to leave me a present. I'm not sure that I believe that guy is the real Santa, though. I was sad, thinking I wasn't going to get anything for Christmas or my birthday.

But then I went to the backyard and saw that there was a new greenhouse and a basketball goal! I guess the greenhouse must be for Dad since before he had some dying tomato plants out there. Since I love sports so much, I think the basketball goal is my Christmas and birthday present! As soon as the snow is gone, I'm going to get really good at shooting hoops. Maybe my dad will play with me when he's not too busy.

Before I went to bed, a heard a noise and saw a flashing light. It was a neighborhood girl named Mew Anderson getting shocked for trying to steal our newspaper. Haha! That was my favorite part of Christmas. I wonder if she's on Santa's naughty list.

This is our house at night with snow and Christmas lights. I think it looks like a Christmas card.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you about my dog Swift. Dad got her before I was born. She went and lived with Uncle Daniel for awhile, but he gave her back to us because she was naughty, and he was too sleepy to take care of her in the daytime. She was mean to me at first, but now we're friends.

Dad helped me put Christmas lights on her doghouse. I try to teach her how to be good by telling her when she's a good dog.

Swift means fast. Swift loves to run, so fetching the stick is fun for her, even when she has to run in the snow.

Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Scoring: No Changes

The Tuckers: Round 7 / Justin Time For Christmas

2011-12-22T18:57:00.002-06:00

I haven't been to the Tuckers house in quite awhile. As soon as I arrived, the first snowflakes began to fall on their house that is lighted for Christmas. They're going to have a family get together in a little while, so they're preparing for that.

NOT. Instead, visions of purple hearts were dancing in their heads. But I guess they'd better get it over with, because otherwise their eyes may stray to guests at the party. I really don't want that to happen, especially not for Christmas. These two have wandering eyes and not enough loyalty to be trusted.

I don't have time to do individual and family updates, so here is just a little reminder of who's who in the Tucker household.

Band Geeks is a master on the piano and loves playing it for hours on end. He has 10 creativity points, and he's using them all today. Since the piano is upstairs, we won't be seeing him at the party.

There was hardly any room in this house to begin with, and that tree takes up a lot of space. I eventually had to move it out of the way. Zoe's family is here with her husband Rudy Fletcher and their kids. I also see two of Kimberly's daughters.

During the party, Catherine fell in love with Mark Bigfoot's servo Metalfoot, while her husband Charlie glares daggers at her. I'm very disappointed in Catherine, who despite being a Romance sim has been very faithful up until this point. Until now she's been hoping against hope to live long enough to have a Golden Anniversary with Charlie before she dies. She's 24 years older than Charlie. I guess it was a moment of temporary insanity. It doesn't help that Metalfoot is her sister Aloe's boyfriend. Thankfully, I didn't invite Aloe to the party.

There was no fight yet, and Charlie appears to have left the room. Catherine stroked Metalfoot's synthetic cheek. I'm so mad at her right now, but she's a guest at the party, so what can I do?

Well, I can control Metalfoot, so I put him to work making a turkey dinner for the party guests. Of all times to have neglected grocery shopping, this was the worst. There's no way a delivery guy is going to effectively deliver groceries during this huge party. Metalfoot is getting a new fridge for Christmas. It's more than he deserves.

Aerosmith and Blondie found the Tuckers' new puppies. I forgot to mention them before, but Izzie and Pooka had 2 more puppies, Hazel and Oliver. The puppies have some of the most normal names in Apple Grove. I can't remember how they got their names. I probably used a random name generator. Anyway, here's to hoping they are better dogs than the first puppy, Swift.

Metalfoot served up a lot of turkey, and I sent him to make more just in case they ran out. No one was interested in eating. :P But, it did keep him out of trouble for awhile.

It's just way too crowded in the house, but it was nice to see all the Tuckers together, plus I let Martin invite a few people he wants to be friends with, such as Jason.

Near the end of the party I got a little worried about a fight, but Metalfoot magnanimously tolerated Catherine "cheating" on him by flirting with her own husband. I guess he's not mad at her, so I'm grateful for that.

Band Geeks finally had to go tinkle after all those hours on the piano, and as soon as he was off the piano, Artists took over and started playing. Charlie is so impressed with his step-granddaughter's playing, he tries to whistle along. The kids playing the piano added a real Christmas party feel to it for me. :)

So out of all the guests, only Amiee sat down to eat turkey. It looks like the Tuckers are going to be eating turkey leftovers for a very long time.

By the time the party ended, they had a decent accumulation of snow.

At dusk I noticed that Martin standing in the backyard. It was his birthday, which is actually Dec. 22nd, which makes it awesome that his birthday is in the right season. The non-awesome part of this is that according to my calculations, he should only be 44. I must have miscalculated his birthday.

Well, he's an old man now, but it's okay with him. Maybe he's just prematurely gray.

While the family was occupied elsewhere, Metalfoot sneaked his girlfriend Aloe (Catherine's half-sister) upstairs to Jill and Martin's room for some woohoo.

Jill does not seem happy about the gift for Martin's birthday.

It's very large. I wonder what could be inside. I love these openable presents from Paladin's Place.

Well, sadly Martin's gift box was empty. I didn't have all the necessary files. It does work again later in the round, but the Tuckers are out of luck.

But that's okay, it's been a good Christmas. Metalfoot got to start up some drama to potentially break up a 20 year marriage. He also got a new fridge and some woohoo. Martin aged up well. Mark Bigfoot put on a few pounds from eating too much turkey.

Jill got three new best friends from the wishing well for Christmas.

And she got the promise of a promotion from one of them.

Santa appeared, but unfortunately he probably wasn't the real Santa. I think this must be Justin, the department store Santa.

Justin must have carelessly misplaced his white wig and red cap.

But the kids don't seem to notice anything amiss, even though ~~Santa~~ Justin only brought one gift - a remote control car. He's enjoying some nice Christmas cookies in the kitchen.

Justin spent the rest of his visit in the bathroom. He has to pee all the time, but he can only go a little at a time. I suspect he might be inebriated, as he seems a bit young for prostate problems. I suppose that might also explain how he could lose the essential wig and cap from his Santa suit.

After dark, we can see the Christmas lights a little better.

Here is the side view of the house. It's a pain to put the lights on the house, so I get to show you as many lighted houses as I want, right? I didn't do as much to the Tucker house as I'm going to do later on.

Anyway, I just love the way the neighborhood looks with the snow.

And last but not least, in the morning the kids were blessed with the gift of a snow day, so they get a break from school after the Christmas holidays to play in the snow. All things considered, I think the Tuckers had a Merry Christmas.

Click to see the BIG picture.

Here's an updated family tree for Martin Tucker's family.

Scoring: No changes.

Round 7 - Christmas and the New Time Reckoning

2011-12-21T12:12:00.001-06:00

I decided that Round 7 will just be one day of play in each of the houses, and it will be Christmas, or technically December 2027. I'm so relieved, and plan to be done forever with 7 day rounds.

My sims up until this point have not been having Christmas - just long, miserable 5 month (year) winters. It's like Narnia - always winter but never Christmas. This is an excellent break. I've already played 4 of the 18 houses, and should start posting for Round 7 soon. There's no way I will finish before real-life Christmas because I have real-life stuff I should be doing instead of simming. ;) But I should get part of the Christmas Round done soon. For this round I'm temporarily taking a break from family and individual update posts, random scenarios and a vacation from vacations.

After Round 7, Round 8 will be 2 days long to finish up winter (January and February). Rounds 9, 10 and 11 will be 3 days each for Spring, Summer and Fall. So it's 3 days for each season, 1 day for each month, and each month lasts a year. That means that there won't be another Christmas for 12 years, but what can we do? Planet Simearth is really weird. With Seasons, there is no good way to do it that makes any sense. I'll still use the Dungeons and Dragons Dice Roller to randomly determine the day of the month for birthdays, weddings, etc. Paladin's Place (Sim Wardrobe) has a Seasons and Weather Controller that makes it easier to change the seasons.

This is the future plan for the next several rounds:

Round 7: December (2027) - Christmas! :)
Round 8: January and February (2028-2029) - Winter
Round 9: March, April, May (2030-2032) - Spring
Round 10: June, July, August (2033-2035) - Summer
Round 11: September, October, November (2036-2038) -Fall
Round 12: December (2039) Another Christmas! :)

Here's a link to my pre-2027 time reckoning in case you're curious about how it used to be done.

The Grahams 2: Round 6 / Rooms With a Vu

2011-12-19T10:01:00.008-06:00

After his wife Sophie cheated on him with zombie Elmer Cormier, a divorced Daniel Graham and his 3 sons moved into 125 Apple Avenue - the left end of the same rowhouses where the Andersons and Foremans live.

Daniel did not want to be alone raising 3 boys, and wasted no time at all in finding a new love interest.

Tristen Vu did not share his love of grilled cheese, but other than that huge flaw, Tristen was the most perfect and attractive woman Daniel had ever met. Havelock wasn't sure what to think of his dad's new girlfriend. Everything in his young life was completely different now.

Daniel's new romance was on a fast track. I love the romantic schoolbus backdrop in this picture of their first kiss. Tristen moved right in, bringing with her a helpful §6000.

And I love her lifetime want, which is going to be relatively easy to achieve. Tristen is a Popularity sim like Daniel, with a secondary aspiration of Family, so she should be perfect to help him raise his sons.

Daniel proposed in the kitchen, and she accepted despite the dirty grilled cheese plate on the counter. At least she seems to be going into this with her eyes open.

They really seem to like each other a lot. They were married in their tiny living room on Aug. 5, 2020. A community lot seemed too risky. He didn't want his ex-wife to show up.

They have an interesting assortment of wedding guests, particularly the guy wearing a Santa suit in August.

Awww, I always love this part.

By the end of their wedding party, Tristen realized she was pregnant. They had sneaked away during the party, and Tristen had tried for a baby and BAM - instant baby on the first try.

I found out later that someone had dropped a bag of trash by the back door, giving them an infestation of roaches. Nice wedding present.

I found this picture funny. Apple Grove doesn't get many outbreaks of roaches, so I guess the exterminator is freaking out because he's just not used to dealing with them. Maybe he's in the wrong line of work, but I'll try not to trouble him very often in the future.

Yes Tristen, it's very sad that there were roaches, but they're gone now. You're going to have to toughen up a bit, because life is hard sometimes.

This day was a good one, though. Tristen was an Aerobics Instructor, but she just got promoted to Backup Dancer.

Daniel was so happy in his new marriage that it helped his performance on the job. He came home from work with the best news - he was finally promoted to Captain Hero, which also fulfilled his lifetime want.

Daniel brought home Ethan Schamess from work, and Havelock brought Banana home from school. Banana Jeffress must be a popular kid, because he goes home with a lot of kids after school. He also loves to smustle.

It was time for Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom's birthday - the quintuplet boys from Daniel's first wife Sophie. She kept the girls with her in case you haven't read my blog before. Sophie didn't name the boys - she just wasn't interested. Daniel named the boys, and he went with a Harry Potter theme. Knowing that Sophie hates the Harry Potter stories, he hoped that naming her sons after some very nice wizards would tick her off. Daniel is a huge Harry Potter fan, which may explain why he thought it would be really cool to be married to a witch - at least until he was married to Sophie. She's no Hermione.

Anyway, something happened and the boys were not able to age up properly. I suspect Sophie had something to do with the glitch. At least the party went well and the guests had a good time. Popularity sims really care about their parties going well.

Tristen's pregnancy seems to be progressing normally.

She is a terrible singer, but insists on practicing anyway. She did improve a little and actually began to sound like she was singing after - way too much practice.

The next day, they tried again to have Harry and Neville's birthday, and this time it was successful. This little bear is Harry.

Harry changed into a larger bear costume.

Here's Neville in his matching bear suit.

And he changed into a panda bear costume.

But soon the bear suits were put away, and they were dressed in cute Gryffindor uniforms. This is Harry.

And this is Neville. The Gryffindor uniforms are sure to be one more way to annoy Sophie. She doesn't believe witches and wizards should be good, which is why she's no Harry Potter fan.

Tristen really makes a good stepmom, and takes on a lot of the toddler training.

Here they are having a family nursery rhyme lesson.

Daniel still seems very happy about his new marriage despite how tired is is from being a superhero and raising toddlers. Poor Havelock is getting a bit neglected, but he is doing very well in school.

And now it's time for him to have his teen birthday party.

He chose to be a Popularity sim just like his dad and stepmom. He went a bit further, and is also a secondary Family sim just like Tristen. He likes blond girls who know how to fix things, but he doesn't want them to cover up that pretty blond hair with a hat.

Speaking of hair, I thought he needed a new look. He still wears his Slytherin uniform, possibly as a compromise between his mom and dad. At least as a Slytherin, there's a good chance he will go wrong. ;) With only 1 nice point, he probably shouldn't wear any of the other house colors.

Havelock wants to be a Hall of Famer when he grows up, although he doesn't seem to have any interest in sports or working out so far. There are too many Hall of Famers in Apple Grove already, but I won't complain as he could have chosen something so much worse.

In case you're wondering, Havelock is at the Apple Grove Performing Arts Center. He looks like he could be doing a Pepsi commercial with that hot light touching his hair like that. Yikes.

While Havelock was playing the guitar, a fight broke out. After 38 long years, Grace finally got her revenge on Alec Ebadi! If you read the very first Apple Grove update about the Tuckers, Grace and Alec were part of the welcome wagon. Alec spent the entire visit beating up on poor Grace. After all these years and despite her dementia, she has not forgotten the pain and humiliation of that day. Grace has maxed all her skills, and now gives him the "old lady ass-kicking" he earned all those years ago.

Havelock's mission in coming out tonight besides having fun and buying a cellphone was to try to talk with the Unsavory Charlatan as a random scenario. Well, it was actually to do that on while vacation, but there's no way I'd send them on a vacation even if they could afford it. I'm taking a vacation vacation. Besides, there's no need to leave town as the charlatan hangs around Apple Grove all the time anyway.

You can't talk to the charlatan, you have to wait for him to come to you. And wait, and wait, and wait....

It's scary. Well, not the charlatan, but when you're waiting outside and the witches come and cause a big lightning storm it's really scary.

I shook his hand and told him he had made a good effort. We'll try again later. I don't understand why the charlatan didn't choose to pickpocket him. He's easy prey, with only 1 logic point.

Tristen soon gave birth to a baby boy. His name is Albus Dumbledore Graham.

And his twin brother's name is Ron Weasley Graham. Yes, another set of natural twins in Apple Grove.

Albus was born at 2:22 a.m. on November 19, 2024.

Ron was born at around 3:15 a.m. the same morning.

Havelock doesn't mind helping out with the babies. He's feeding Albus in this picture.

Daniel flew off to work again. I love it when they get to fly as Captain Hero.

Havelock brought home Chick-Fil-A Fletcher from school one day. I thought that maybe he could get a first kiss from her, forgetting that she is his cousin. Chick-Fil-A is the daughter of Sophie's brother Rudy Fletcher.

Since he can't kiss her, she gets a noogie instead. I don't know why Chick-Fil-A's boyfriend doesn't come to her rescue. Pierce Zarubin is standing right there, looking confused. Maybe he needs a noogie too. ;)

Nanny Shenene decided to hog the only bathroom with a bubble bath while she was on duty. She can be a relatively competent nanny sometimes, so I find this surprising. This guest still managed to barge in to try to use the bathroom.

Havelock went back to the Performing Arts Center, but there was no charlatan there. He sang some karaoke. He's really good with his 9 creativity points.

He then went to Mini Twikkii where he saw Honey Shibata. It was a life changing moment for him. He just had to ask her on a date.

As he's getting his first kiss, the charlatan showed up. But once again, he ignored Havelock. That's okay - Havelock was quite distracted anyway.

Honey had a great time, and left a huge fountain on their front porch as a gift.

The next day they went on another date, this time to Mini Mountain. As you can see, the charlatan is on his way again.

Instead of talking to Havelock, he talked to Honey, but she was too smart for him. He was unable to steal her wallet.

The charlatan was really embarrassed. He should be. He's a total failure as a pickpocket. I've given him enough chances. I consider this random scenario to be completed.

Life has been good for Havelock lately. He was uncertain about Tristen at first, but he's so glad now that his dad married her and that he's so happy.

It's birthday time again for Harry and Neville.

Neville's first accomplishment as a big boy was to clog the toilet.

It was also time for the twins to have a birthday. Ron showed some early magical skills. He can already fly without a broom.

Here's Ron as a toddler.

And this is Albus.

Harry is not magically gifted at baking muffins.

But Neville has some smustle magic.

And here is Neville with a makeover and dressed in his Gryffindor uniform.

Harry got a makeover, too. It's easier for me to tell them apart now.

Harry enjoys painting, even though it was Neville who wanted an easel. Harry is always getting to the paints first. I guess he's thinking this will be a nice gift for his big brother.

Tristen is teaching Albus to talk. "Accio bear!" Soon he won't have to look for his teddy bear because it will come to him.

I thought Ron should get a makeover. Even though he inherited his dad's dark hair, his hair needs to be red. Freckles are good, too.

Havelock got invited to go on another date. I wasn't thrilled about it, but I know for sure he wanted to go out with Honey again

They went to Crypt O' Night club in Apple City. They started the date by taking some goofy pictures.

It wasn't too surprising to spot Sophie and Dagmar, Apple Grove's most morally-challenged women, out on the dance floor.

Sophie actually came and acknowledged her son who she's not seen in years by giving him a hug, but she didn't seem pleased that he's dating Honey. Sophie always looks like she's got some evil plan. Honey should probably watch her back.

Neville doesn't want to play red hands with Harry. I think he's unhappy that Harry has been hogging the easel and paints.

This is Albus with auburn hair. I thought I remembered that he had aburn hair in his youth from reading the books, but I just now bothered to look it up. Eventually, Ron and Albus will also be changing into the Gryffindor uniforms as well - when I get around to it. ;)

Click to see BIG picture

And finally, this is Daniel Graham's updated family tree.

And now that it's been just over a year since it began, Round 6 is done! YAY!!! :D

Scoring: +3 for adding Tristen, Albus Dumbledore and Ron Weasley, +1 Daniel for reaching the top of Law Enforcement. The population of Apple Grove is currently 91, with a total population of 93.

The Grahams 2 (2020-2026)

2011-12-17T08:03:00.002-06:00

After Sophie and Daniel split up earlier in the round, Daniel moved out with his 3 sons, and his 2 daughters Airell and Blair stayed with Sophie. I've already played this house, which is the last in round 6! :D I should have their update written soon, as I have a fun plan for round 7. Sorry there's no family tree, but I forgot to take the picture at the beginning, and I don't want any spoilers.

Daniel Graham
(Uni townie) Generation 1 (born Aug. 23, 1981)
Age: 39
Zodiac: Leo
Personality: 4 sloppy / 10 outgoing / 4 lazy / 4 serious / 3 grouchy
Popularity / Grilled Cheese
Occupation: Police Chief
LTW: Captain Hero
Turn ons: makeup, cleaning, ~~brown hair~~
Hobby: Music
Interests: culture, weather, work, entertainment, paranormal
College: Political Science

Daniel married Sophie Fletcher Dec. 17, 2006 - they divorced May 26, 2020

Havelock Graham
Generation 2 (born Nov. 19, 2010)
Age: 9
Zodiac: Gemini
Personality: 4 sloppy / 10 outgoing / 9 active / 4 serious / 1 grouchy
Grow Up aspiration
Occupation: Elementary School
LTW:
Turn ons:
Hobby: Fitness
Interests: travel, school, toys, sci-fi, sports
College:

Harry Potter Graham
Generation 2 (born April 2, 2020)
Age: about 3 months
Zodiac: Pisces
Personality: 8 neat / 1 shy / 10 active / 3 serious / 8 nice
Grow Up aspiration
Occupation: Eating, Sleeping and Filling Diapers
LTW:
Turn ons:
Hobby:
Interests: entertainment, culture, sci-fi, toys, sports, fashion
College:

Neville Longbottom Graham
Generation 2 (born April 2, 2020)
Age: about 3 months
Zodiac: Gemini
Personality: 6 neat / 10 outgoing / 10 active / 3 serious / 3 grouchy
Grow Up aspiration
Occupation: Eating, Sleeping and Filling Diapers
LTW:
Turn ons:
Hobby:
Interests: entertainment, paranormal, sports, travel, sci-fi
College:

The Pedersons and Porters: Round 6 / Life Is Like a Box of Crayons

2011-12-13T22:23:00.006-06:00

Half sisters Reagan and Taft Webb were both married at the beginning of the round and have now moved into a duplex with their husbands. Initially they moved into separate apartment buildings, but those buildings have now been torn down. Apple Grove now has residential "apartments" because I hate the game's apartments.

Their building is owned by Heath and Lara Fancey who sent the amount of the lot to them to buy the building. They send rent to the Fanceys using the checkbook from Simwardrobe.com, and Heath is teleported over to do yard work and repairs as necessary. In addition, I keep track of their paychecks and purchases for each family to know how much money they have, and let them split the bills.

Tyler had a want to get fit. I suppose it's a Romance sim thing, even though he's married. Later, I realized that his wife Taft is turned off by fitness. Oops. But so far I can't tell that it has affected their relationship at all. And that's a smart move on his part. Even though he's a romance sim, I'm not going to feel very forgiving if he hurts Taft.

While his wife Taft is at work, Tyler entertains two walkby women who could be twins. And by entertain, that's all I mean. Even though it looks like he's up to no good, so far he has been faithful to his wife.

Taft got promoted to Restauranteur and brought Contessa Hailey Brown home from work with her, but Hailey had to run. She said something about getting burned by the sun.

Reagan has been working in the Artist career. Currently she's an art forger. She was trying to decide whether to use chemicals to age the oil paint or not. She chose to find the chemicals.

This bad idea put detectives on her trail, which ended up costing her §1000 in lost supplies.

As a random scenario, one of the sims has to activate a servo. I chose Taft, because she's my favorite sim in the house, so I would like the servo to have her personality. She got to work learning robotics.

Reagan's husband Komei is a Draftsman in the architecture field. He's studying to get a promotion. He's a Popularity sim, but his highest wish is to max out all of his skills. When he's not dressed for work in a plaid shirt, jeans and cowboy boots, Komei loves wearing a business suit. It's quite a contrast.

He really wanted a car, and since he had the money, he bought himself a nice sports car.

Even though they have their own apartments, the Pedersons and Porters freely come and go in each others' homes except for the upstairs bathrooms and bedrooms. Komei decided while he was already at the Porters' apartment using Taft's nice bookcase, that he would go ahead and do his yoga while he was there too.

Taft decided to go outside and look at the stars. She really wanted to see a shooting star.

But soon she was done with that idea, because it turns out she's pregnant! I had no idea. She wasn't sick at all. If I knew she was pregnant earlier in the round, I must have forgotten.

Heath Fancey is there pretty much every day to take care of the gardening.

Instead of compromising with a coworker with a completely different style, Komei fought for his design.

Komei lost his pay for the day, but then came home with a promotion as an Architectural Partner, so I'm not sure now whether or not he got paid.

Meanwhile, Tyler is leaving a better paying acting job as a Leading Man to work as an Intern in the medical field. It's his dream to be the Chief of Staff.

Taft is really starting to show now.

And as it turns out, Reagan is also pregnant.

Reagan wants to be a Celebrity Chef, because we don't have enough of those in Apple Grove already. ;). A good start for Reagan would be learning not to burn soup.

On his first day of work as an Intern, Tyler discovered a flaw in a surgery technique and spoke up about it.

Because he spoke up about his concerns, he was promoted to Resident.

Taft gave birth to a baby boy at around 6:55 a.m. on October 27, 2023. Her doctor husband was taking a long bath at the time, and didn't want to get out of the tub. :P

I think the baby is cute, although he's a bit different-looking.

I'm not sure why the pointy-eared paper girl is inside Reagan's apartment. Taft walked over from her apartment with the baby to her sister's house, went upstairs...

And gave birth to a second baby in the upstairs hallway.

She had another baby boy who looks a lot like her husband Tyler at around 7:49 a.m.

Since we have so many colors represented, I thought it would be fitting to name them randomly after the 120 current Crayola crayons. This is Shamrock.

Shamrock looks a lot like his daddy.

And this is Copper who did not get her green skin, but looks a lot like Taft. These are natural twins, BTW. No cheesecake was harmed in the making of this episode.

Reagan talks to her sister about how she and Komei had both waited until they were married before their first woohoo and then got pregnant right away.

This is a favorite topic for her discuss with her friends as well. It's too bad it isn't entirely accurate.

Reagan was not Komei's first, as seen here in the memories of one of Apple Grove's citizens who is not Reagan. I didn't realize this until writing this update. Can you guess who was his first? Fortunately, Komei has no memory of this event.

Reagan is babysitting her nephews so that her sister can go to work. They both really like their Uncle Komei.

And this is the night that Taft has finally reached her lifetime want of becoming a Celebrity Chef.

Normally I would have their landlord Heath Fancey fix the broken appliances, but it was late at night and Komei wants another mechanical point, so I let him give it a try. He was able to fix it without electrocuting himself.

Chick-Fil-A likes to call and chat with her Aunt Reagan often.

As a popularity sim, Komei is really proud of his wife's good reputation. Reputation is something I never pay attention to with my sims, but I checked and she is a Sociable Celebrity, which is the best reputation she can have.

Reagan soon gave birth to her own baby boy. His name is Hot Magenta, LOL. He was born on November 2, 2024 at around 10:36 a.m.

Komei seems really happy to have a son with his green eyes and Reagan's good looks.

Reagan was finally able to find a culinary job and was on her way to becoming yet another Celebrity Chef.

This walkby visitor with no fashion sense is named Ryan Wheeler. He really enjoys poking Tyler in the chest. Sadly, Tyler is the kind of sim who just cries instead of fighting back. Where's the fun in that?

Reagan is the kind of sim who loves to clean and makes a lot of sparkly bubbles.

Shamrock and Copper had a birthday party, courtesy of their Uncle Komei who always wants to throw a party. It was a big surprise that Shamrock has blond hair. This would seem impossible, and it is. His hair is actually considered black, but is obviously incorrectly binned. Oh well. It does make him stand out. Since a lot of children start off blond in real life, I'm going to leave it for now.

My fake daughter Amiee was at the party and couldn't resist holding cute little Shamrock. She looks sad. Maybe she's ready to settle down and have her own family.

My son Jason was also at the birthday party, and he also found Shamrock irresistibly cute.

Reagan decided to make a cookbook featuring Asian dishes instead of no calorie cooking. It does sound like it would be a lot tastier.

And it was a good choice. She was able to get a §10,000 royalty check.

Since Uncle Komei is so popular, I figured he could help out with potty training his nephew.

Taft decided to show off her cooking skills by cooking up a batch of lobster and then walking all the way over to Reagan's apartment to serve it.

Tyler decided to treat an injured bowler instead of making her wait her turn.

This helped him earn more charisma.

Taft had to give up on making her own servo. She learned how to make robots up to hovercrafts, but was not going to have time to finish her gold badge or build her own servo in this round. She headed over to Rose Electronics and bought one. Even though she's pregnant, vampire plantsim Belladonna Harris is there to manage the store.

Taft initialized her servo.

And named her Taft 2.0.

Taft 2.0 got to work right away taking care of Hot Magenta. Having a pair of extra robotic hands around will ease their burdens a bit while all the boys are young.

I'm not sure how servos can teach a kid to talk. Hopefully, Copper won't sound like a robot when he grows up.

Taft 2.0 wants to be a Professional Party Guest. Even though her LTW doesn't count for points, I went ahead and let her join the Slacker career so that she can become platinum.

Komei threw another birthday party - this time for his son Hot Magenta.

He's a cute toddler except for the hair.

One great thing about her new servo is that Taft now has a built-in friend with whom she can talk to about grilled cheese.

Here is some toddler spam as we finish up the update. Copper plays his xylophone. He's a little odd-looking with some weird ears like I've seen on other alien offspring, but he should outgrow the awkwardness.

Hot Magenta shows off his new hairstyle. I think he looks better in a fauxhawk.

Shamrock has some weird ears like like his brother, but I think he's still very cute.

And now I have one family left to play in Round 6 - Daniel Graham's family. I'm so excited, because I have a fun plan for Round 7.

Scoring: +3 for adding Copper, Shamrock and Hot Magenta, +1 Taft - top of the Culinary career, +3 Taft - Top of Aspiration Meter. The population of Apple Grove is currently 88, with a total population of 90.

The Pedersons and Porters (2020-2026)

2011-12-10T23:19:00.003-06:00

The Pedersons and Porters are next in Round 6. Reagan and Taft are sisters who are married and live in the same duplex. I just finished playing them, so I should have an update within the next few days. Here are the details of the families:

Pederson:

Komei Pederson
(Uni townie) Generation 2 (born April 24, 1998)
Zodiac: Leo
Personality: 4 sloppy / 10 outgoing / 4 lazy / 4 serious / 3 mean
Popularity / Fortune
Occupation: Draftsman
LTW: Max All skills
Turn ons: stink, aliens, ~~red hair~~
Hobby: Music and Dance
Interests: environment, fashion, paranormal, food
College: Biology

Komei married Reagan September 20, 2021.

Reagan (Webb) Pederson
Generation 2 (born Oct. 9, 1995)
Zodiac: Scorpio
Personality: 10 neat / 9 outgoing / 10 active / 3 serious / 3 mean
Pleasure / Family
Occupation: Art Forger
LTW: Celebrity Chef
Turn ons: red hair, creative, ~~black hair~~
Hobby: Fitness
Interests: culture, sci-fi, travel, paranormal, health
College: History

Porter:

Tyler Porter
(Uni mascot) Generation 2 (born Feb. 4, 1999)
Zodiac: Libra
Personality: 2 sloppy / 6 outgoing / 2 lazy / 9 playful / 6 nice
Romance / Popularity
Occupation: Supporting Player
LTW: Chief of Staff
Turn ons: cologne, makeup, ~~brown hair~~
Hobby: Nature
Interests: environment, food, culture, weather

Tyler married Taft April 22, 2022.

Taft (Webb) Porter
(alien) Generation 2 (born Jan. 13, 1997)
Zodiac: Virgo
Personality: 9 neat / 2 shy / 6 active / 3 serious / 5 nice
Pleasure / Grilled Cheese
Occupation: Executive Chef
LTW: Celebrity Chef
Turn ons: swimwear, jewelry, ~~fitness~~
Hobby: Science
Interests: culture, sci-fi, paranormal, work, food
College: Drama

The Andersons: Round 6 / Do We Gotta Catch Em All?!

2011-12-01T22:28:00.001-06:00

Instead of doing a recap of the Andersons in Round 5, I'm going to just dive right in and get this story over with. ;)

Since Charity is pregnant, she and Sabastian followed Cassandra and Morgan's example and moved to the rowhouse next door so they would have room for the new baby.

Charity plays with Mew, while Sabastian plays a video game.

Since he wasn't going to work until the afternoon, Sabastian "decided" to do a little daytime search for aliens. I had no idea whether or not he could get abducted in the daytime. I just knew that his LTW is to marry off six kids, and since Mew doesn't count, he shouldn't put all the pregnancy burden on Charity.

Mew is really fond of Luke, and now has a little more space to hug him.

Speaking of space, the aliens couldn't resist coming in for a closer look at Sabastian.

And he was ripe for the picking. I wasn't sure if he could get abducted in the daytime, but I guess he can with "Summon Aliens." I guess knowledge sims have a lot of appeal to the aliens as breeders.

Rawley came over as part of the welcoming committee and made a beeline for Charity's cowplant Miltank.

Thankfully, he stinks just enough to be rejected, but that didn't stop him from trying repeatedly to get cake.

I'm always impressed by the aliens' ability to maneuver their spaceships through residential areas without crashing.

The pollination technicians dumped Sabastian right in front of his carpool just in time to go to work. Thankfully, the car stopped before running over his head.

It didn't take long after he arrived home from work for Sabastian to realize the results of being probed.

Sabastian is not Mew's biological father, but he and Mew have a very good relationship. Mew's real father Elmer Cormier got fed to the cowplant in the last round, and he is now Sophie Graham's zombie ~~boyfriend~~ servant.

A large crowd of Bauers has now arrived, which means it's time for Mew's birthday.

This is such a sweet, pink picture of Charity and Mew, and they match the wallpaper.

But as it turns out, Mew is not at all sweet. She has one nice point, so it doesn't take much to make her mad.

And Mew is not very playful, either. Now that she's a child, she's still not hitting it off with her cousin Cindy Lou Who.

Sabastian doesn't look too unhappy to be changing into the comfy pink sweats. Now he also matches the wallpaper.

I enjoyed the birthday party so much that my sim didn't get the hint to leave when the party was over, but stayed and blogged. At least one of us is really committed to blogging. ;) I'm trying, though. My head and heart have to be in it at the same time for it to happen. I always want to write, I just don't always have the focus. Thankfully, I'm not allowing myself to play ahead, which keeps me blogging.

Since Sabastian has that marry off six kids LTW, I figured they should eat some cheesescake and just get this show on the road.

Well then as luck would have it, I decided to draw a random scenario for them, and they are supposed to adopt a baby. Wow, this is getting crazy. Too bad they can't go back and un-eat the cheesecake. This is Walrein. I used the Dungeons and Dragons Dice Roller and got #365 out of a possible 649 Pokemon.

The social workers are quick to take children away, but they are not held accountable to anyone for their own neglect, so the social worker just dropped Walrein off - on the side of the road!

Where there was a skunk.

With all the crazy changes, Mew realizes that she will be fending for herself - from now until the end of her life, because her parents just don't have any time and energy left for her, and things are only going to get worse. Thankfully, she's a survivor and was able to perfect her muffin baking quickly.

Charity gave birth. This baby boy is named Lucario (#448).

Sabastian missed the birth because he was too busy playing a very important game of Sims 3.

Charity put Lucario on the floor...

And gave birth to baby girl she named Blissey. Bbop requested that I name a sim Blissey when I played this family a year and a day ago. (wow, that is a long round!) Blissey is #242.

Charity is a great mom when it comes to A+ report cards.

However she's not patient with Lucario for having a dirty diaper.

Nor is she at all pleased with Blissey for not making it to the toilet. Not being able to walk is no excuse. ;)

I was hoping that Luke would destroy the homework for Mew so she could spend more time picking up dirty diapers and bottles. Pretty much all she does is bake muffins for herself and clean up. Thankfully, she has 10 neat points and 9 active points, so she is a great deal of help.

Finally, it's Sabastian's turn to have the pleasure of childbirth.

This baby boy is Gorebyss. Gorebyss is #368.

Charity actually helps out, which is nice considering his lack of sympathy or interest when she gave birth. Now he knows how much it hurts.

And this is a baby girl named Maractus. Maractus is #556.

Sabastian has an inconvenient fear of changing diapers, so he has to bathe the babies. This is time-consuming.

Now Charity just has to give birth one more time for Sabastian to have his six kids.

Baby Spam time:

Walrein Anderson - born September 9, 2022. He was adopted on September 20, 2022, when he was 20 days old. Thankfully, he lived through 20 days of ineptitude at the hands of social workers.

Lucario Anderson - born September 21, 2022. I did not manange to record the time of birth, but the twins were born late that night.

Blissey Anderson - born September 21, 2022.

Gorebyss Anderson - born at 9:00-ish p.m. on October 5, 2023.

Maractus Anderson - born at 9:15 on October 5, 2023.

Charity is beyond tired and the house is completely trashed, so she calls in a favor with her sister Cassandra. Charity recently helped her out with her two children. Payback is gonna be hell. ;) She called in her other sister Amiee, too. This is a huge job taking care of all these babies.

Mew was lucky that Aunt Cassandra is fun. She went outside with her to play catch.

Walrein grew up without a birthday party. But then again, he is a red-headed orphan kid that they didn't even want. Sad, but true. At least they're as kind to him as they are able, and they didn't leave him lying on the side of the road.

This is Lucario as a toddler. Lucario and Blissey did get a birthday party, despite a lack of very many pictures.

I couldn't resist giving Blissey this hair, although it would be more accurate if it were pink. I'm just not willing to find it in pink or *shudder* fire up Body Shop and make a pink recolor. If you know where there is a free pink version, please let me know.

This is a view of the five babies and toddlers sleeping in the living room. I decided it was in my best interest to put them out here to make sure the grown ups and Mew get some sleep.

At the next family get-together Cindy Lou Who is coveting Mew's easy-bake muffin, but Mew knows it's every sim for herself and doesn't care to share.

It's birthday time for the little green twins.

Charity had gone down to feed the cowplant and didn't come back up for cake.

She was busy giving birth to Victini, so she was excused. Victini is a boy (even though that Pokemon is supposedly genderless) and is #494. I was glad to see that their baby-making days were over. Hopefully they will survive all the toddlers, because it's going to be almost as if they have their own Toddlermania.

Charity made it upstairs for the second twin's cake.

Here's Maractus as a cute toddler.

And this is Gorebyss who got some awesome elfish ears! :)

And I just love that they love each other. This was a spontaneous hug that I managed to get a picture of amongst all the birthday party madness.

Luke is a very patient dog who loves hugs from smelly toddlers. He will probably be getting plenty of those before it's all said and done.

And last but not least is the latest and last edition, Victini. Victini was born on Gorebyss' and Maractus' birthday, which means he was born on October 5, 2026.

And just when I thought all the baby-making was done, fate and ACR threw me a horrible curve ball. Crap! I heard a lullaby! I've never had risky woohoo give my sims a baby before when they didn't try for it - until now. How are we ever going to get through this???

Maybe by the time Charity gives birth, we'll have a few less toddlers. I like how she's thinking that she's pregnant and thinking about her sister Cassandra at the same time. Is she thinking maybe she can give some of these kids to her sister? LOL

Just to make things more fun, Luke peed on the carpet. Now that the birthday party is over, Cassandra and Amiee went home and can't be called to come back over until 7 a.m. This forces me to call a dreaded nanny just to be safe.

Nanny Marie Wood just stood around outside and wouldn't come in and help for the longest time. At least her presence keeps the stupid social worker away, but Charity and Sabastian could really use some actual help. This is the end of our time with the Andersons. I'm not really looking forward to the chaos that will await when I play them again in Round 7. I may have to move them into a larger house and ask even more family members to help out in the next round.

Scoring: +6 for adding Walrein, Lucario, Blissey, Gorebyss, Maractus and Victini to the neighborhood. The population of Apple Grove is currently 85, with a total population of 87.

The Andersons (2020-2026)

2011-11-11T10:55:00.004-06:00

The Andersons are the next family in Round 6. I have a real daughter named Charity, although she is not yet married and doesn't have children, so this is pretty much entirely fiction. This is just a post to give current details about this family. I'm currently playing them, and hope to post an update soon.

Sabastian Anderson
(Uni townie) Generation 2 (born Sept. 1, 1995)
Age: 25
Sagittarius: 2 sloppy / 3 shy / 9 active / 7 playful / 4 grouchy
Knowledge / Grilled Cheese
LTW: Marry Off 6 Children
Turn ons: fitness, brown hair, ~~fat~~
Hobby: Sports
Interests: culture, entertainment, paranormal, sports, food
College major:

Sabastian married Charity Dec. 3, 2019

Charity (Bauer) Anderson
Generation 2 (born Feb. 11, 1991)
Age: 29
Virgo: 8 neat / 1 shy / 10 active / 3 serious / 3 grouchy
Popularity / Grilled Cheese
LTW: Golden Anniversary
Turn ons: fitness, blond hair, ~~stink~~
Hobby: Sports
Interests: culture, entertainment, weather, fashion, crime
College major: Art

Mew Anderson
Generation 3 (born Oct. 17, 2016)
Age: almost 4
Aries: 10 neat / 10 outgoing / 9 active / 3 serious / 1 mean
Grow Up aspiration
LTW:
Turn ons:
Hobby: Fitness
Interests: paranormal, sci-fi, sports, animals, school
College:

Click to see BIG picture

Cassandra (Bauer) Foreman

2011-11-10T07:24:00.003-06:00

Cassandra (Bauer) Foreman
Generation 2 (born Nov. 5, 1988)
Age: 38
Eyes: Brown
Natural Hair Color: Brown

Parents: Michelle Bauer and Scott Bauer
Siblings: Jason, Charity, Amiee, Ian, Christopher
Spouse: Morgan Foreman
Married: Jan. 21, 2013
Children: Cindy Lou Who, Fox In Socks

Personality:
Aries
Neat: 10
Outgoing: 10
Lazy: 3
Serious: 2
Grouchy: 3

Aspiration: Popularity / Knowledge
Occupation: Business Tycoon
LTW: Business Tycoon
Impossible Want: 30 Best Friends
Turn ons: jewelry, good cook, ~~unemployed~~
Hobby: Science
Interests: fashion, sci-fi, entertainment, environment, food
College major: Political Science

Skills:
Cooking: 10
Mechanical: 1
Charisma: 8
Body: 4
Logic: 9
Creativity: 9
Cleaning: 6

Talent Badges:
Fishing: Silver
Sewing: Silver

Hobby Plaques:

Morgan Foreman

2011-11-10T07:07:00.002-06:00

Morgan Foreman
(custom townie) Generation 2 (born Oct. 5, 1987)
Age: 39
Eyes: Brown
Natural Hair Color: Blond

Parents:
Siblings:
Spouse: Cassandra (Bauer) Foreman
Married: Jan. 21, 2013
Children: Cindy Lou Who, Fox In Socks

Personality:
Libra
Sloppy: 3
Outgoing: 7
Lazy: 4
Playful: 5
Nice: 6

Aspiration: Pleasure / Grilled Cheese
Occupation: Round Table Knight
LTW:Have 50 Dream Dates
Impossible Want:
Turn ons: brown hair, good cook, ~~full face makeup~~
Hobby: Arts and Crafts
Interests: fashion, weather, food, work, entertainment, culture, sci-fi

Skills:
Cooking: 2
Mechanical:1
Charisma: 10
Body: 2
Logic: 8
Creativity: 8
Cleaning:2

Talent Badges:

Hobby Plaques:

Fox In Socks Foreman

2011-11-10T06:49:00.002-06:00

Fox In Socks Foreman
Generation 3 ( December 16, 2026)
Age: less than 1
Eyes: Brown
Natural Hair Color: Brown

Parents: Cassandra (Bauer) Foreman and Morgan Foreman
Siblings: Cindy Lou Who
Spouse:
Married: date
Children:

Personality:
Leo
Neat: 7
Outgoing:10
Lazy:3
Serious:2
Nice: 8

Aspiration: Grow Up
Occupation:
LTW:
Impossible Want:
Turn ons:
Hobby: Music and Dance
Interests: travel, toys, paranormal, school
College major:

Skills:
Cooking
Mechanical:
Charisma
Body
Logic:
Creativity:
Cleaning:

Talent Badges:

Hobby Plaques:

Cindy Lou Who Foreman

2011-11-10T06:33:00.003-06:00

So, I think I want to take a page out of jungfrun68's awesome Mattsmyra and do individual pages for each resident of Apple Grove. These pages will be updated as they age up.

Cindy Lou Who Foreman
Generation 3 (born September 3, 2021)
Age: 5
Eyes: Brown
Natural Hair Color: Brown

Parents: Cassandra (Bauer) Foreman and Morgan Foreman
Siblings: Fox In Socks
Spouse:
Married: date
Children:

Personality:
Aries
Neat: 10
Outgoing: 7
Lazy: 4
Playful: 5
Grouchy: 3

Aspiration: Grow Up
Occupation: Elementary School
LTW:
Impossible Want:
Turn ons:
Hobby: Science
Interests: entertainment, animals, toys, travel and sci-fi
College major:

Skills:
Cooking
Mechanical: 1
Charisma
Body
Logic: 3
Creativity: 4
Cleaning: 1

Talent Badges:

Hobby Plaques:

The Foremans: Round 6 / In a Box with a Fox In Socks

2011-11-09T17:41:00.002-06:00

Cassandra and Morgan and their dog Leah have moved out of their tiny house and into a new home. Cassandra has short hair now. I'm not sure if she changed it because she's pregnant, or if I deleted her hair when trying to cut back on my cc. I suspect I deleted it.

Okay, this kiss seems like a bad idea, and looks like it might be difficult for a pregnant woman to bend like this without pulling a ligament or a muscle, or falling on the ground.

Their new home is on 105 Apple Avenue, and is a rowhouse. It looks like an apartment, but it's a private home. Daniel Graham and his boys live on the other end, and so far the middle rowhouse is unoccupied. Their new home has more space than their previous house, but is still within their price range.

They were able to afford it without a loan, and even had enough money left over to buy a vehicle. There is almost no yard, however.

There was a small corner in the backyard for Leah, where she has a new doghouse.

The real Cassandra loves to sew, and has a much newer, nicer sewing machine. Sim Cassandra has been working on sewing curtains.

I can't believe Morgan is a Senator now. Well, not for long. My sim is the de facto mayor, so Morgan is going to have to find a new career. Only a sim who really wants to be mayor (LTW) is going to remove me from office until I'm dead. Morgan's LTW is 50 dream dates. So far no other sim has that LTW, so I get to continue my reign of terror. ;)

I made him take a job as a mime to shut him up about the unfairness of the situation.

But Morgan seems fairly happy. He and Cassandra are expecting their first baby very soon, and he seems excited.

He even took a sick day on his first day of work so he could be home for the birth. But how does a mime call in sick?

That night Cassandra gave birth. Morgan was too distracted by the beautiful kitchen cabinets to notice.

And then walked off to play the bass guitar.

I asked the real Cassandra what naming theme she would like for her sim kids, and she humored me by suggesting a Dr. Seuss theme.

So meet Cindy Lou Who, born September 3, 2021 at 8:39 p.m. This is obviously not the name of my real granddaughter, who is a very beautiful little girl with blond hair and big brown eyes. Grandmas have to brag. I think it's in the rulebook somewhere.

Morgan finally noticed he has a daughter, and he thinks she's the best.

They bought a water wiggler from Martin Tucker's toystore so they wouldn't have to bathe the dog anymore, however there is a glitch either with Leah or the lot, so I finally had to get rid of it. They will have to take the time to bathe her.

Morgan gave her a much-needed bath.

And she is usually a well-behaved dog - at least in the tub. Morgan is her favorite human, and she quickly accepted him as her master.

During her maternity leave, Cassandra was able to finish curtains for their bedroom.

My real granddaughter threw up a lot as a baby, so I think it's kind of funny that Cindy Lou Who is a gastro geyser too.

I'm not sure why Morgan is looking at me like this. Either he's still mad at me for keeping him out of the mayor's office or he hates the mime outfit, or both. Thankfully for him this is the only time he will be seen in the mime outfit...

Because now he's a lounge singer.

Cassandra burned the lobster thermidor. She looks disappointed. As you can see, She has some longer hair now, and a new outfit. Her hair and clothes are more like my real daughter.

Leah ate some of the burnt lobster, but it made her bark at ants afterwards.

She took it out on the chair. Thankfully, the chair looks like it's already been through worse.

Cassandra had to call Ralph on the big white phone. Is it the burnt lobster?

Morgan got promoted again - this time to Ventriloquist. I'm just glad he didn't bring home one of those creepy dummies.

No, as you can see, it was not the burnt lobster that made her disembark dinner. She's going to have another baby.

This is one thing I wish were possible in real life. You could make up a plate of something like grilled cheese in the time it took to make one sandwich, put it in the fridge, and people would eat those sandwiches without complaining. And the food would stay good for an indefinite period of time. Have you guessed that cooking is not one of those things I like to do?

Little Cindy Lou Who is due for a birthday.

And I think she's a cute kid, and I'm going to let her keep the braids for now because I like them. And I'm lazy. Cindy Lou Who is an Aries: 10 Neat / 7 Outgoing / 4 Lazy / 5 Playful / 3 Grouchy. Her one true hobby is science. She's most interested in entertainment, animals, toys, travel and sci-fi.

Leah gave her the taste test. Dogs know toddlers are usually covered in something sticky, which makes them extra tasty.

Speaking of tasty... My simself still thinks sim Scott is yummy after all these years. I'm really fond of the real Scott, too.

Charity's daughter Mew was teleported to the party in hopes that she and her cousin Cindy Lou Who could become friends, but toddlers don't really have any interactions with each other except "Huggle," and Mew was not having that, so now they've gotten off to a bad start.

Christopher and Ian wore their togas to the party. They soon found the video games. In real life, they play games together often - usually killing zombies.

I tried getting a dollhouse so the girls could play together, but despite how cute it looks, it didn't seem to improve their relationship.

Cindy Lou Who was able to get a bottle from her "Gramichelle". This is what I have my grandchildren call me. Scott is Pap-pa.

Christopher is still really mad at the Chicken Man who stole his girlfriend Nerissa, even though he was no longer attracted to her. But it really makes him happy to be mad.

I found it surprising that Christopher remembered his old nanny Shenene, and that he liked her enough to give her a hug.

Maybe it's because Shenene is pretty cool, at least for a nanny.

Cindy Lou Who is a daddy's girl. Morgan has been teaching her to walk and talk, etc. Cassandra is not feeling too great since she's pregnant again.

Even though she's sewn a ton of hotpads and has five of them hanging above the stove, Cassandra prefers to use her bare hands when touching the oven rack. It's time to see if she can't make the most of this pregnancy and get some cheesecake twins. She still has to have 2 boys.

Cindy Lou Who loves to color, something she truly has in common with her human counterpart. Leah is probably waiting to eat crayons. My dog Obi loves them.

Cassandra's comfort level was good and she wasn't in labor, so I was surprised to see her show signs of a backache. I guess I haven't noticed pregnant sims doing this before.

Finally, the great pumpkin was ripe and ready for harvest, but Morgan just had to finish up a few things on the computer first.

And now he's wondering why he bothered to get off of the computer. He doesn't have a clue what to do.

Thankfully, Cassandra had done this before and knew what to do. She had her eyes closed tightly, wishing for boys.

But it was not meant to be. This is Fox in Socks, a cute freckle-faced baby girl. The cheesecake didn't work either, because there was just one baby. Fox in Socks was born on December 16, 2026 at 10:42 a.m.

Fox in Socks hasn't even had her first bottle yet, but she's already training to be a supermodel.

Cassandra is asking her sister Charity if she can watch the kids for awhile. Thanks to Squinge's Watch Kids Enabled hack, this is possible in all houses and not just apartments. Since I no longer use apartments (at least not the game's version), I find this hack especially nice so that I can still have others watch the kids without hiring a nanny every time.

Because Cassandra is exhausted and Morgan went to work.

Charity was glad to help and did a great job. She did way better than most nannies. She bathed Cindy Lou Who and changed her diaper.

Fed Fox in Socks two huge bottles in a row and changed her diaper three times in a row, LOL.

She did seem a bit obsessed, but at least she was focused on taking care of the kids needs, sometimes taking care of their needs before they actually needed them.

At that point, I remembered I hadn't been inviting friends over to age up, so I teleported in a few of Cassandra's friends. These are two of her old professors fighting - Pamela Gergis and Craig Pearson.

And Pamela won the fight. This was a bad place to fight, because Charity was trapped in the hallway. This was my design flaw - a 1 tile hallway was not a good idea, as it causes fairly frequent problems, even when people aren't fighting.

And this is where things got hairy, or at least tried to. Ian's nightly werewolf transformation was too much for this party, throwing us into a time loop.

And in this alternate timeline, Craig kicked Pamela's butt...

And then Ian's transformation threw us into another time loop... Finally, I teleported him away before his transformation at 8 p.m., and then teleported him in later in the party so that he would already be transformed. That only caused a long pause instead of a crash.

Morgan was now finally free to come home with a promotion to Round Table Knight.

And finally it was time for the main event - Cindy Lou Who's birthday - again. Jason has his eyes closed in this picture. This is very typical of real Jason to accidentally blink in pictures, although lately I've been seeing pictures of Christopher in school activities with his eyes closed on purpose because he thinks it's funny. He has an interesting sense of humor.

This is usually how it feels in real life at Cassandra's house when there's a birthday. It's standing room only at the kids' birthday parties - lots of people in a fairly small house.

One more picture of the cute toddler with her daddy...

And Cindy Lou Who is happy to be a big girl now.

I love how one braid is sticking out, and how her piece of cake is the size of her head.

It was after 1 a.m. before the party guests left her roofraiser party. Cassandra was exhausted, holding a smelly baby, and giving me a look to kill. Next time I'll be smart and have the stereo on, thereby ensuring that the party will end at 11 p.m. when the police show up. This party was a roofraiser almost from the start, so there was no reason to drag it out for 6 hours.

Time to wash the smelly dog again. Cassandra has a dog in real life - a female chocolate lab mix named Chocolate. Chocolate is always exuberant to see me. It usually takes a good long time for her to calm down and stop trying to jump on me.

Cindy Lou Who got a makeover in her sleep, and is now a blond with a more Seuss-looking hairstyle.

She's up bright and early to get in some coloring before her first day of school.

And while she's waiting for the school bus, she also takes time to play with her dear dog Leah, whom she adores.

This family was fun to play, and I kind of hated having to quit. I completely forgot to do a random scenario, and I didn't feel like sending them on vacation, even though they could afford it. I probably should have had them take a vacation. I still could... Nah. I'm starting to really hate vacations.

Scoring: +2 for adding Cindy Lou Who and Fox in Socks to the neighborhood. The population of Apple Grove is currently 79, with a total population of 81.

The Foremans (2020-2026)

2011-11-06T19:00:00.003-06:00

The Foremans are the next family in Round 6. Cassandra is my sim daughter, and I have a real life daughter named Cassandra as well. Sim Cassandra and her husband Morgan are expecting their first child. I have already played this family, so I hope to have an update soonish.

Morgan Foreman
(custom townie) Generation 2 (born Oct. 5, 1987)
Age:33
Libra: 3 sloppy / 7 outgoing / 4 lazy / 5 playful / 6 nice
Pleasure / Grilled Cheese
Occupation: Judge
LTW:Have 50 Dream Dates
Turn ons: brown hair, good cook, ~~full face makeup~~
Hobby: Arts and Crafts
Interests: fashion, weather, food, work, entertainment, culture, sci-fi

Morgan married Cassandra Jan. 21, 2013

Cassandra (Bauer) Foreman
Generation 2 (born Nov. 5, 1988)
Age: 32
Aries: 10 neat / 10 outgoing / 3 lazy / 2 serious / 3 grouchy
Popularity / Knowledge
Occupation: Business Tycoon
LTW: Business Tycoon
Impossible Want: 30 Best Friends
Turn ons: jewelry, good cook, ~~unemployed~~
Hobby: Science
Interests: fashion, sci-fi, entertainment, environment, food
College: Political Science

Click to see BIG picture

The Todds: Round 6 / Extensive Vamping

2011-10-31T10:11:00.002-05:00

Sorry, I said I was going to try not to take a month to update this time. Well it isn't quite a month yet, but it's close. Since my last update, I got myself addicted to Colourlovers, and then Pinterest. ;)

Anyway, we are back with the Todd family. If you read about the Todds in Round 5, then you might notice that Aloe and Belladonna look much different with hair and normal clothes. I think it's a definite improvement, especially since I can tell them apart. This is the Reader's Digest edition of what happened at the Todd house. I could have written another 2-part update, but I just didn't want to. To learn more of the details of the Todd family, please see the previous post.

Unfortunately, the changes I made at the end of the last Todd update did not get saved for some weird reason. But I decided to go ahead and try to do some of the things - like give Charlie a bird.

Meet Screwed. Again. Considering my luck with birds, the name will be sure to fit the poor thing.

Just an FYI, Charlie owns Todd's Organics, where they sell their family's produce along with regular groceries and some gardening supplies and miscellaneous stuff. Nothing very interesting happened there on this round, although they did go and run their business several times.

Belladonna LOVES hugs. All the time. Especially from Uncle Charlie. Yuck.

Belladonna and her mother Aloe are both Romance plant sims with a strong attraction to Charlie. Instead of going outside for much-needed sunlight, they hang around him all the time waiting to hug him. It's a dangerous situation that reeks of a potential daytime talk show. I will have to start finding these two some men.

Thankfully, Charlie is very committed to his wife Catherine, even though she's 24 years his senior. Aloe is Catherine's sister, and Belladonna is her niece. Catherine just took her retirement. Maybe that will help keep Charlie away from Aloe and Belladonna.

Aleksei is Charlie and Catherine's son. He's very gifted at painting, and painted a picture of his mom, even though she was too embarrassed to pose properly.

Oh no, they have an unwelcome guest.

Fortunately, he is there for Adam Harris and not for any member of the Todd family.

And he came back to get Adam's wife, Diana. You may wonder why this is happening. I'm trying out ancienthighway's hack that allows non-playable sims to age on your lot if they are there at 6 pm. Unfortunately, time was up for both Adam and Diana Harris.

Catherine was so relieved, as she isn't quite ready to go just yet. I didn't realize at the time why she was so relieved, but she is worried that she might not live long enough to achieve her LTW of celebrating her Golden Anniversary.

Belladonna grabbed Danijel Dalmatian and got her first kiss. He didn't seem to mind that much. Danijel is a custom townie I created in hopes of someday playing the 101 Dalmatians challenge. So far, he hasn't had much chemistry with anyone until now.

Before I could stop them, he even willingly obliged Belladonna in another first - in her Aunt Catherine and Uncle Charlie's bed. That's just wrong.

Sadly, Aloe was way behind her daughter in the romance department and was just now getting her first kiss from Kacper - the guy she fell in love with in the end of the last round - which technically didn't really happen.

As a random scenario, someone at the Todd house is supposed to date several different NPCs to include a Grand Vampire, and Belladonna was more than willing to take on the challenge. Count Sabastian Harris is a little put off by the forwardness of today's modern woman.

But he really was charmed by Belladonna's beauty -- as well as that of her mother Aloe. Yuck.

And it was a dream date. Count Sabastian arrived slightly before dawn to deliver a bouquet for the purple-haired beauty who had captured his heart - before rushing back home to his coffin.

Aloe is on a date with Metalfoot, the Tucker's servo who was built by Mark Bigfoot, who now (sometimes) has a face.

Oh, and Aloe got her first woohoo from this guy named Parker Brown who walked by one day and caught her fancy. And then there's that Kacper Larrea guy she really likes... She also has developed a crush on Heath Fancey, although I don't know when that happened. Hopefully, I can keep her away from him. Anyway, she is also "borrowing" her sister's bedroom.

And as it turns out, Aloe also really has the hots for Wilson Webb, who is her co-worker. She brought him home with her one day after work, and I sent him straight home after I observed all the swooning.

Catherine decided to paint a portrait of her dear young husband. She's also a romance sim, but she seems refreshingly committed to Charlie.

Poor Aloe lost her job as a freelancer due to a bad decision she made to add erroneous information to a website instead of revealing all she knew. Thankfully, she was able to get her job back quickly. She has a LTW to become a professional party guest.

Belladonna was on a date with a local chef when she got a surprise from Adam Harris' ghost. Adam's ghost may become a problem if he does much haunting, because he's a very unhappy ghost.

Aleksei brought Banana Jeffress home from school, but was too bored to play with him.

Despite being completely ignored by Aleksei, Banana was very angry at Jack-in-the-Box Fletcher for stealing the Todd's newspaper.

It's Aleksei's birthday party, and apparently his birthday wish is to have his very own bigfoot like Mark Bigfoot who lives with the Tuckers.

He didn't get his wish, but seems rather pleased about finally getting to be a teen.

Aleksei lives for pleasure, but wants a little bit of knowledge. He's attracted to girls who work hard and can cook, but doesn't want them to wear hats.

Aleksei's goal in life is to become a Professional Party Guest. That will be easy.

Any time there is a male around, both mother and daughter want him. This is Ethan Gray, a local waiter that Belladonna is trying to have a date with despite her mother's constant interruptions.

I think Aleksei has turned out to be a rather attractive teen, getting the best features of his parents.

Aloe likes to stay busy. ;)

I finally added a bedroom above the garage with a cheap double bed so the mother and daughter plantsims would have a place to take their dates, because Charlie and Catherine's bedroom is now locked and off limits to them.

Aleksei paid the local matchmaker §5000, and she sent him Emily Mellon. Emily is the girl that Lime Jeffress dated while he was on vacation at Three Lakes. Since Lime already has a girlfriend, I thought Aleksei and Emily shouldn't worry about Lime's feelings. Aleksei and Emily have 2 bolts of chemistry.

In another evening of inviting over friends to allow them to age up, someone is rejecting a first kiss somewhere...

I believe the drama was caused by Andrzej Haggerty who tried to kiss Catherine. I'm really relieved that she turned him down. I like Catherine more all the time.

Count Sabastian came back for a second date and without warning turned Belladonna into a vampire.

After that she had a want to get engaged to him, which I found surprising since she's a romance sim. Since she had no fear of engagement, I went ahead and let her go for it.

Count Sabastian accepted her very forward proposal and also moved in with her, bringing in a whopping §50,380. The Count is a pleasure-seeking sim who wants 50 dream dates. I guess he and Belladonna have all eternity to make that happen. Oh no - I just realized I'll be playing Belladonna for a long, long time. Crap.

The Count and Belladonna were married that night in a private ceremony. This time he was in charge. One thing he didn't want was to change his last name. He was not about to change his family name that he had held for centuries.

Soon thereafter Belladonna was hit hard by the realization that her dating days were over - and that her new husband is obsessed with Tai Chi.

Aleksei wanted to become a vampire too, so I figured why not. Well...

Unfortunately, he found out the hard way that not all vampires look hot. Except for the fangs, he looked more like he had just had his wisdom teeth out than like a hot vampire.

And later once the swelling had gone down, he discovered that vampires aren't immune to major breakouts. Their pale skin really shows off acne more than ever. Plus, it's hard to have much of a social life when you spend so much time in a coffin. Being a teen vampire actually really sucked.

Aloe tends to forget she's a plant that needs sunlight, and often passes out. She is also the cause of the trash can being kicked over. Metalfoot caught her cheating on him with Kacper, so he is really mad at her.

Count Sabastian wants to vamp everyone. Fortunately, he and Catherine are not friends yet.

Belladonna seems to enjoy being a vampire-plant as she is heading off to work as a manager for Rose Electronics.

Despite Catherine's age, she and Charlie still have a lot of fun together.

Unfortunately, he really wants to be a vampire. Belladonna was more than willing to make it happen for him.

And he looks pretty good as a vampire. He just forgot one thing... Catherine's LTW is to have a golden anniversary, and that will only happen if he becomes an elder. Vampires can't age. So, oops.

Fortunately, Aloe rejected the Counts attempt to make her a vampire. I think we have enough vampires already. Although it probably will only take a few more hugs and then he can vamp her too. :P

I discovered that a grow light over the bathtub is a really good thing for plantsims. Belladonna also has a grow light over her coffin.

Poor Screwed bit the dust as predicted.

And then this is Screwed 2 dying. He had no miraculous recovery when Charlie added food one second too late. There is a Screwed 3 now. There's no point in showing you the picture, as he looks exactly like the first ones.

Charlie went ahead and took the cure so he could help Catherine get her golden anniversary. Hopefully, she will live long enough to see it. I think she is concerned that she won't live long enough. Actually, according to Simlogical's days left shrub, she will die 2 days before Charlie becomes an elder. But maybe she will find a solution before it's too late.

There's a lot going on in this picture. The Count thinks his wife is hot, and also loves the new chair. And yes, Belladonna is pregnant. She surprised me by trying for a baby. I didn't expect that from a romance sim, but I forgot her secondary aspiration is family. ACR does have it's downside, but thankfully Belladonna is a surprisingly resilient sim for a vampire, and is having no problem meeting her needs despite the pregnancy.

Now that Charlie is back to his normal self, the Count is determined to befriend him so that he can turn him back. Geez Louise, these sims are making me crazy.

As we leave the Todd house, I'm relieved. It's been a tiring house to play.

Scoring: 1 point for adding Count Sabastian to the neighborhood. The population of Apple Grove is currently 77, with a total population of 79.

The Todds (2020-2026)

2011-10-03T15:47:00.005-05:00

The Todds are the next family in Round 6. Look for an update soon-ish for the Todds. I'm just beginning to play their house for this round. I'll try not to take a month this time. ;)

Charlie Todd
(townie) Generation 1 (born Dec. 26, 1981)
Age: 39
Zodiac: Virgo
Personality: 9 neat - 2 shy - 6 active - 3 serious - 5 nice
Knowledge / Pleasure
Occupation: Owner of Todd's Organics
LTW: Earn §100,000
Impossible Want: Max All Skills
Turn ons: full face makeup, brown hair ~~charismatic~~
Hobby: Sports
Interests: culture, weather, politics, environment, food

Charlie married Catherine November 28, 2007 - Catherine is 24 years older than Charlie!

Catherine (Tucker) Todd
(CAS) Generation 1 (born Jan.23, 1958)
Age: 62
Zodiac: Pisces
Personality: 5 neat - 3 shy - 7 active - 3 serious - 7 nice
Romance / Pleasure
Occupation: Retired Game Designer
LTW: Golden Anniversary
Turn ons: facial hair, black hair ~~plantsim~~
Hobby: Tinkering
Interests: fashion, culture, food, weather, health, entertainment
Her first husband Donny took off when Brian and Martin were born

Aleksei Todd
Generation 2 (born Dec. 6, 2011)
Age: 9
Zodiac: Cancer
Personality: 9 neat - 3 shy - 6 active - 6 playful - 7 nice
Grow Up aspiration
Occupation: Elementary School
LTW:
Turn ons/off:
Hobby: Tinkering
Interests: travel, toys, animals, paranormal, sports
College:

Aloe Tucker
(plant sim) Generation 1 (spawned Sept.15, 2002)
Age: 18
Zodiac: Libra
Personality: 4 sloppy - 4 shy - 4 lazy - 7 playful - 6 nice
Romance / Grilled Cheese
Occupation: Freelance Web Designer
Turn ons: makeup, jewlery ~~glasses~~
Hobby: Nature
Interests: animals, school, weather, paranormal, environment
This is Catherine's half sister

Belladonna Tucker
(plant sim) Generation 2 (spawned Sept. 15, 2008)
Age: 12
Zodiac: Libra
Personality: 4 sloppy - 4 shy - 4 lazy - 7 playful - 6 nice
Romance / Family
Occupation: Manager of Rose Electronics
Turn ons: swimwear, great cook ~~hats~~
Hobby: Nature
Interests: school, toys, animals, weather, paranormal
This is Aloe's daughter and Catherine's niece

Click to see BIG picture

The Jeffresses and Miguels: Round 6 - pt. 2 / How Many Tweets?

2011-10-02T19:17:00.003-05:00

As we return to part 2 of the Jeffress and Miguel families, we are now back at Rose Electronics. If you haven't read part 1 yet, you might want to go back to the previous post.

Rose's business was really taking off, so she hired Amaya Schweber, who is one of the local Gearheads, to be her cashier. The ~~Wookie~~ Bigfoot in the yellow scarf buying electronics is Mark Bigfoot, the first Bigfoot to move to Apple Grove who lives with the Martin Tucker family. Soon I will do away with the scarves. I like to be able to tell my Bigfoots, servos and plantsims apart, but that scarf just looks cruel and unusual on an already hair-covered being. I have other ideas about how I can individualize Bigfoot(s), thanks in part to Photobucket.

This must be a night picture, because vampire Daniel Brown is here shopping. Also, my son Jason is really into electronic stuff, so it's only right that he is here too.

Finally, it has come time for Lime's birthday. It's actually Strawberry's birthday today too, but she doesn't get to blow out candles this time.

I see that Lime grew up in a Cabbidgimon shirt. He's a bit of a nerd.

He's a nerd that really wants to be popular, and would also like some money. Lime is attracted to girls who wear perfume and are handy with a wrench, but he doesn't want them to be good at cleaning.

Lime's popularity and money desires are leading him down a dark path. He wants to be a Criminal Mastermind when he grows up. With his 8 nice points it seems a bit contradictory, but I guess if he wants money and the wrong kinds of friends badly enough then it could be plausible.

Eva Harrington, a new matchmaker in town, gazed into her crystal ball, and for a mere §5000 and found him a blind date.

Laura Mellon is extremely shy. They have one bolt of attraction between them, but then it's difficult to find someone with Lime's very specific tastes.

Tweets 2 ran out of food, but they were able to get food to him just in the nick of time. Whew!

Meanwhile, Strawberry and Banana continue their friendship. Strawberry just loves her little cousin.

I can see that Lime's been neglecting his homework.

He wanted that alien abduction scholarship, but when it came time to actually stargaze, he did not want to do it. He groans every time he has to stargaze. He's not really interested in his origins, but prefers the here and now on this planet.

He got his chance to go buy a cellphone at Game S'more as is traditional for most teens when I remember. That will really help him to hopefully shed his nerdiness and begin making all those friends that popularity sims crave. And there I am walking by with my skinny backside. Yeah, this is the fantasy me. ;)

And again we have some terrible storms hit thanks to the atrociously evil Maura Trimble. She really needs to look in a mirror to see that she is wearing the neutral witch clothing now.

When he left Game S'more, Lime headed over to Apple Grove's central park to meet up with Laura for another date.

And he got to make out with her away from the prying eyes of his family, although there were plenty of other people around in the center of town.

Like these bozos playing on the merry-go-round.

Lime also gave Laura a cell phone, as he had an extra one. I think Laura was unsure of what to do with a cellphone that didn't have texting. Sadly, there are no texting plans in Apple Grove. They have to actually talk to one another, and they have to walk around looking when they are going.

When Lime asked Laura what she liked about him, she told him she was just so happy he didn't have blond hair, but that she really hoped he would get fat one day, because that would turn her on. O.o

Lime tries to scare Strawberry with his scary alien stories he's heard, but Strawberry is not that worried.

Almond thinks the little robot toy is a hoot. He has an absolute blast with it until it breaks.

He got a stern lecture from his brother-in-law Apple about he should really be more mature and not be playing with the children's toys, especially if he was going to be so careless. And better yet, maybe he should go live in his own house and break his own stuff.

Seeing her husband take command like that really turns Rose on. Yuck, I just don't understand. Almond is not at all happy, though. He thought he and Apple were sort of friends.

Strawberry tried to pretend not to see Blondie the daughter of the tramp who runs the "massage" business (that's in the background) right across the street from their house. Everyone knows that Blondie is not really Brian Tucker's daughter - except Brian Tucker. But with 7 nice points, Strawberry is too nice not to greet and talk to her.

But she did mention to Blondie that just because she's rich and goes to a fancy private school doesn't mean she had to show off and wear her uniform all the time.

Oh my gosh, yucky! Where are your parents, Raspberry? Your Aunt and Uncle? Surely someone can get you a fresh bottle.

After the robot toy incident and the spoiled milk incident, Almond and Violet decided it was time for them to get their own place. Apple looks happy to see them leave, especially Almond. Rose thinks her husband Apple is going with them, so she looks happy too. I guess she's conflicted, loving her husband sometimes and other times wishing he would go away.

Uh-oh, Lime has discovered that there is a gaming system. Will Laura ever hear from him again?

Almond and Violet bought this little houses on 120 Turnover Terrace. It's not that far away from Rose and Apple's house. They didn't have enough money to buy the house on their own, so they had to take out a loan from Simlogical.

Click to get the BIG picture

Here's a better view of the neighborhood so you can see where they're living in relation to Apple and Rose's house. And it's as good a time as any to reveal where Daniel Graham and his sons ended up, which is in one of the rowhouses (dark blue) across the street from his ex-wife Sophie.

Violet and Almond were quick to break in their new bed, and heard a lullaby. Maybe they will get a boy this time.

But one thing's for sure.

They're both going to be having babies now.

Violet's expression is saying: a.) I'm tired b.) I'm uncomfortable c.) I'm nauseous d.) I'm broke e.) All of the above.

If you guessed e, you are correct.

Really, you just need to see the bathroom to know that times are hard. If I could fix it myself or they could afford to replace the tub and toilet, I would. It's bugging me, but we'll have to leave the Miguels with a mess because their week is actually finished.

Apple just loves the fresh smell of compost in the morning, especially now that the Miguels have moved out of his house.

Back at the Jeffress house, Lime finally gets started on his dreaded homework. Since he can do this elementary school work in crayon, it shouldn't take him long to get caught up.

Rose does the dishes in her own special way.

Now that Violet and Almond have moved out, I fixed up their old room for Lime. The gnome was one of many I found in his backpack. I'm not sure if they're stolen, but I don't remember anyone selling them before his family's yard sale. My guess is that his life of crime has already begun.

Oh no! Tweets 2 died! I really don't know how that happened. I thought I was doing a good job at keeping up with his feedings.

It seemed only fitting that Apple should mourn the bird that he worked so hard to teach to talk like a pirate.

So they got another bird. At §400 a pop, this random scenario is adding up.

Lime is not sure he likes Tweets 3, even though he looks exactly the same as the previous Tweets-es.

But it's a completely moot point anyway, because Apple forgot to add food immediately, and Tweets 3 died almost instantly.

So now they are on Tweets 4. This is beyond ridiculous, EA Games.

It was time for Banana's birthday. Lime wanted to throw a party for him. One of the party guests is my son Ian who is friends with Lime, and he wasted no time in stealing their alien gnome when he realized that the gnomes are no longer electrified. I guess I don't really need to mention that he's in the Greek house at the University of Applebama.

Poor Banana did not want a birthday party, so he took a small aspiration hit. But it was really no big deal, as he had learned all of his toddler skills and had plenty of love and attention from his parents so far to comfort him.

I was wondering why the guests were all out on the lawn until I realized the doors were locked from when they had the yard sale. I didn't want shoppers wandering around inside the house.

So I was finally able to get everyone inside for the main event - cake.

Banana wants at the candles.

And oh my gosh! What is this?! A special event camera?!!!

I have sadly never seen the special event camera for birthdays. I didn't even know it existed! That's sad, really. That says how many actual birthday parties I've had for my sims - like maybe one when there was only the original game.

The party was soon interrupted by Ian's nightly transformation.

Poor Banana was really freaked out for awhile. I even saw him writing about it in his diary later. I sure wish I had gotten a picture of that, because I thought it was really interesting that it made such an impression on him.

Almond is really unhappy that no one bothered to empty the trash compacter before the party. What?! I've never even thought about that. I thought trash compactors were just something you crammed trash into until you just couldn't cram anything more into them. That's what we always did to my parents' trash compactor. ;)

Lime thinks it's funny that his Uncle Almond (who he has a really good relationship with, BTW) is getting so angry, and gives him a little poke. LOL.

Lime made sure to invite Laura to the party as well. She gave him a good thwack with a pillow. I think it's interesting that they keep pillows in their kitchen.

Rose wrapped up all her sister's old beds and furniture and put it all into this box. It's amazing how much you can fit into a small box if know know what you're doing.

Since the Jeffresses are not completely broke and pregnant like the Miguels, they got to go on vacation to Three Lakes. And the Miguels were not invited.

Lime decided to use this vacation to change his image a bit, getting some new clothes and dying his hair green. It really conflicts with his skin tone, but matches his shirt, so he thinks he looks hot. He also wants to learn flower arranging. He just gets more and more complicated. He wants to be a popular, nature-loving, criminal florist.

The family wanted to go and meet the most current Bigfoot living at Three Lakes. This one is Rawley Bigfoot.

Banana saw his brother's hair and had to change his too. He wasn't allowed
to get any weird colors, but had to settle for blond, or banana-colored as he preferred to call it. Oh, and he loves to do dishes just like his mom.

I did not know that the social worker could threaten you while on vacation.

Speaking of food, it was weird that when I sent Banana to try flapjacks, he ended up with what I assume was ramen instead. I didn't even see ramen on the menu. But he did get his flapjacks finally.

Nice, Rose. She was pointing and laughing at Lime for falling off the log when he and Apple were having a log-rolling contest.

Guess what? Laura works at Three Lakes as a cashier in the clothing store. I guess Lime was surprised. She seems to approve of his new look.

You know what I remembered? Sloppy sims can salvage stuff from the trash can. It was a lot of fun for me, and even somewhat fun for Lime, although he got pretty smelly. He was able to make an average of §50 simoleons for each full queue of salvaging.

Banana used his banana-colored toy oven to stay fed on vacation and keep the social worker away.

I decided that the garage part of the vacation home was unnecessary since they walk everywhere anyway. I decided to make it into a living area/kitchen for them.

Uh-oh, this isn't Laura. This is a Three Lakes local named Emily Mellon. Lime has about the same amount of chemistry with her as he does Laura. He wanted to go on a date and Laura was not available, so he thought that since he isn't repulsed her, this girl would do nicely.

Banana is dancing the smustle, probably to some Bananarama.

Apple absolutely hates the vintage radio and is ready to get back to the world of technology.

Rose must feel the same way because she seems to think that this old Moneywell computer is so old it has gears instead of Intel Inside.

So they have now packed their bags and are heading to the shuttle. Apple and Lime do the simultaneous suitcase salute in farewell.

And surprise! They have adopted their very own Bigfoot! Rawley has brought his §1 and his virtual ducky shorts and is moving in. Virtual Ducky Shorts are courtesy of Photobucket and COLOURlovers. Photobucket finds a nekkid bigfoot offensive and have rejected at least 3 of my pictures of Bigfoot(s). So from now on, Bigfoot(s) in Apple Grove will be wearing badly photoshopped, but fun sprayed on shorts. Rawley gets the ducky shorts because...

He wants to become the Hand of Poseidon. Yes, ducks have nothing to do with that, but they have to do with water, so it sort of works.

Apple has just seen something in the telescope, and has now been taken on a little adventure with some green guys. He isn't even a space pirate yet, but I bet he's up there in space somewhere yelling "Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!" and "Blimey!"

Now that Lime is a teen with florescent green hair, things seem a little awkward between him and his mom.

It doesn't help when she congratulates him on kissing those girls. What does he say to that?

Rawley really likes his new friend Lime, and gives him the honor of a Bigfoot Hug.

Wow, I've never seen that notice before. That might have come in handy the last 3 times. I paused the game and sent Lime to run to the cage and feed Tweets 4.

But it looked like it was too late, and Tweets fell off his perch to his death.

And then instantly revived when the food hit the feeder. I know it seems like I am making this up, but I have photos.

Tweets 4 is clearly looking alive, while his cage thinks he's dead. I wasn't sure how that would work out.

But in a few seconds the regular menu came back, and I just had Lime clean the cage, and the bird was fine. So, we have been through 4 Tweets this round instead of 5. And thankfully it's time to leave before we can kill off another one.

Next time I will play the Jeffress and Miguel families separately. We should be getting another green Jeffress baby, and at least 2 more Miguel babies - one of them will also be green. Hopefully Tweets 4 will get to live a good, long life - but odds are sadly not in his favor.

This is Rose's family tree so far.

And this is Violet's family tree.

Scoring:
+ 2 for adding Banana and Raspberry and +3 Violet for all Lifetime Aspiration Benefits. The population of Apple Grove is currently 76, with a total population of 78.

Apple Grove: A Prosperity Challenge

Table of Contents

The Shibatas: Round 7 / Santa Baby?

University: Round 7 / The Nightmare Before, During, and After Christmas

The Browns: Round 7 / The Vamp Who Stole Christmas?

The Hamiltons: Round 7 / The Ghost of Christmas Cat

The Bauers: Round 7 / The Christmas Wedding

The Webbs: Round 7 / Fangs, Not Claus

The Fletchers: Round 7 / Chevy's Christmas Vacation

The Tuckers: Round 7 / Justin Time For Christmas

Round 7 - Christmas and the New Time Reckoning

The Grahams 2: Round 6 / Rooms With a Vu

The Grahams 2 (2020-2026)

The Pedersons and Porters: Round 6 / Life Is Like a Box of Crayons

The Pedersons and Porters (2020-2026)

The Andersons: Round 6 / Do We Gotta Catch Em All?!

The Andersons (2020-2026)

Cassandra (Bauer) Foreman

Morgan Foreman

Fox In Socks Foreman

Cindy Lou Who Foreman

The Foremans: Round 6 / In a Box with a Fox In Socks

The Foremans (2020-2026)

The Todds: Round 6 / Extensive Vamping

The Todds (2020-2026)

The Jeffresses and Miguels: Round 6 - pt. 2 / How Many Tweets?