Week 1: Stevenson

Hello all, this is Samantha Stevenson speaking. I'll be commentating this week, I guess, since my boy and his wife are busy with their kids. They've got a whole bunch already and are planning on having even more, but more to that later. As you can see, this is a happening place already. Quite a few of our neighbours showed up to greet us at our new house. Siobhan and Andrew were in the welcome waggon along with Darren Foster. I believe he was inside when this picture was taken, chatting with the younguns. His daughter walked by a bit later and so did Henry Stuart. I think I've met all my neighbours that are my own age now. Shame there's nobody among them that I really hit it off with, though we all had fun playing kicky bag together.


My silly boy managed to set a fire the first time he got anywhere near the stove. I told him to leave that to me and his wife from now on. He can be such a klutz sometimes. Good thing we have a fire alarm already!


Of course as soon as the guests were gone we started on teaching the toddlers their skills. Here's Sophie learning to say "Grandma". Ain't she the sweetest thing?


Her father taught her to go potty as well, and of course we taught her brother the same things.


After that, I was ready for some me time. I love those kids, but they get so stressful after a while. There's never a quiet moment in that house! So I went downtown and worked as a barrista for a while to make some extra money and meet a few new people. There was one I liked particularly well. His name is Abhijeet. I hope I spelled that right. Complicated name if I ever heard one. But he's a sweet person and we had a dream date right off the bat. And then another one after that. And then another... *chuckles* I have to admit I'm a sucker for having a good time. The kids laughed when I told them, but they seem to be okay with it. After all, I put up with all of their antics when they were younger.


As I said, there was a lot of skilling going on in the house. Here's the toddlers learning how to walk while I look up some good recipes. After all, someone has to cook and we don't want any more fires around here. The babies are dead scared of 'em. Good thing they hardly noticed the last one.


Of course both of the kids had to get a job ASAP to pay the bills. I'm not too much help in that respect, seeing as I'm too old. But at least I can look after the little ones while they're gone. Nannies are so gosh darn expensive, and not exactly the most reliable people, or so I've heard. Cathy didn't do too well though. She got demoted to dishwasher because she refused to skip in and cook when everyone else had gone home already. She was probably thinking of that accident her husband had earlier and didn't want to set the place on fire. Ah well, culinary wasn't the field she was interested in anyway. She'd much rather join the army, but there were no jobs available in that field.


My boy did a lot better. Here he is coming home with a promotion to recruit! Yup, he joined the police force. Frederik went out to congratulate him right away. Such a sweet child!


Abhijeet called me up and asked me whether I'd like to go on another date, and of course I couldn't refuse. The kids were already in bed, so no harm in it. And dating keeps me young! Though I'm not sure I'll tell the kids about this little incident. They're both relatively shy people, so I doubt they'd ever do something as daring as woohoo in a photobooth. The diva and Mr. Ng seemed to think it was a hoot though.


Thursday was a good day. As you can see, Cathy joined her husband in the police force because it paid better (still no army jobs, sadly) and they both got another promotion. And Frederik got his first A+ as well!


And there was even more reason to celebrate. The toddlers finally had their birthday and turned into beautiful children. We didn't throw a real party, but a friend of my son from the force came back with him from work and I had Abhijeet over. As you can see we'd been on another date *blushes*.



With all the promotion money (and the funds from a rather expensive gift from my boyfriend) we were able to decorate the house a bit, so we decided to get the kids into private school. He still wasn't too impressed with the house, but I made pork chops and Michael schmoozed up a little and in the end they were accepted.


You know when I said that the kids wanted more babies? Well I wasn't kidding. They'd agreed to put things on hold until the twins were a bit older and our financial situation was better, but after that, there was no holding them back. By Friday we found out that Cathy was expecting.


They had another gorgeous daughted and named her Chloe. And I think they might just go for one more before they're done. No end to changing diapers in this house. Ah well, at least I'm lucky enough to see them all born. And hopefully I'll live to see them grow up some as well!


End of round accomplishments:
- Both toddlers learn all their skills and grow up into children
- The three children get into private school
- A new baby girl, Chloe, is born
- Samantha finds a boyfriend and has had 20/50 dream dates for her LTW/IW
- Cathleen still hasn't gotten her dream job in the military, mostly because of the pregnancy.

Points this round:
- 7 for seven sims: Samantha, Cathleen, Michael, Frederik, Hendrik, Sophie and Chloe

Introducing the Families

First up in my rotation is what will probably be the easiest family to play, since there's a full set of parents and grandma to play babysitter. Though the finances will be tight in the beginning, no doubt. Meet the Stevensons!


Seeing the family now, one wouldn't expect what a rocky start the marriage got off to. Michael and Cathleen married straight out of highschool after Cathleen announced that she was pregnant with their first child. Everyone thought that they were too young and it wouldn't last long, but being the family sim Michael is he just couldn't abandon his girlfriend and unborn child. To everyone's surprise, they pulled through and even had two more children before they could really afford it. But then they're planning a big family and thought that it couldn't hurt to start early. The only one who always stuck to them in their very conservative community was Michael's mother, who was thrilled to have grandbabies. As long as they didn't interfere with her having fun too much.
Sick of being looked down upon for their liberal views on life, the Stevensons grabbed the chance to hightail it out of their old town as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Hopefully in this community that was being built from scratch they could finally settle down and be the popular and well-liked members of society that Cathleen, especially, had always wanted to be.

Samantha: Pleasure, with a LTW of 50 dream dates.
Scorpio: 6 neat, 5 Outgoing, 8 active, 3 serious, 3 nice

Cathleen: Popularity, with a LTW of becoming a General.
Virgo: 9 neat, 2 shy, 6 active, 3 serious, 5 nice

Michael: Family, with a LTW of graduating 3 kids from college
Cancer: 6 neat, 3 shy, 6 active, 4 serious, 6 nice

Frederik: Child. Grow up aspiration
Cancer: 6 neat, 1 shy, 6 active, 7 playful, 5 nice

Hendrik: Toddler. Grow up aspiration
Virgo: 10 neat, 2 shy, 2 lazy, 5 playful, 6 nice

Sophie: Toddler. Grow up aspiration
Capricorn: 6 neat, 1 shy, 2 lazy, 9 playful, 7 nice

Next up are the Mitchells. Andrew had just bought his little cottage in the mountains that he intended to use as a retirement home, when his son asked whether his small family could come for a visit for a while. Him and his wife had been ill for ages, and they hoped that the mountain air would do them some good. Thrilled at the prospect of spending time with his family, Andrew agreed. Little did he know that the disease was more serious than everyone thought and the adults would die soon after their arrival. Of course Andrew instantly agreed to take his granddaughter into his care. He was the only family she had left, after all.

Andrew: Family, with a LTW of becoming captain hero
Scorpio: 6 neat, 5 outgoing, 8 active, 3 serious, 3 grouchy

Sarah: Family, with a LTW of reaching her golden anniversary
Sagittarius: 2 sloppy, 3 shy, 9 active, 7 playful, 4 grouchy

Darren was devastated when his wife of fifteen years left him for another man. Immersed in his studies, he'd failed to see the signs that their marriage was breaking apart. Deciding that it was time to start from scratch and leave all the bad memories behind, he packed up his daughter and quit his well-paid job in the city to move up here. He's decided to mostly keep to himself and concentrate on studying, though his teenage daughter will hardly let him get away with that.

Darren: Knowledge, with a LTW of maxing all skills
Sagittarius: 2 sloppy, 3 shy, 9 active, 7 playful, 4 grouchy

Arcadia: Popularity, with a LTW to own 5 top-level businesses
Sagittarius: 2 sloppy, 2 shy, 7 active, 7 playful, 7 nice

Siobhan had never intended on being a mother again. Heck, she'd never intended on becoming a mother period, but sometimes things just didn't go as planned, especially when you woohooed as much as she had as a young woman. She remembered her wild days with pride. Heck, and why should they be over just because she was getting older now? Still, she had a weakness for her only son, so when he'd asked her to take care of his triplets for two weeks while he and his wife went away on business she agreed. On the condition that they hire a nanny as well. She'd just be there to oversee the woman and make sure she did a proper job.
Somewhere along the line, the business trip must have gone awfully wrong, because her son and daugher-in-law disappeared without a trace. Now, three months later, Siobhan must come to terms with the fact that they might never be back and she's stuck with the kids until they grow up. What's more, she couldn't afford to keep the nanny on her small pension, and her son's life insurance refused to pay unless he was confirmed dead. Which might not happen for ages for all she knew. Grudgingly, she sold her old appartment and moved into a tiny house with the triplets, hoping that the extra money would last until they were grown.

Siobhan: Romance, with a LTW of becoming a hall of famer
Taurus: 5 neat, 5 outgoing, 3 lazy, 8 playful, 4 grouchy

Katelyn: Toddler. Grow up aspiration
Pisces: 6 neat, 0 shy, 9 active, 3 serious, 7 nice

Keira: Toddler. Grow up aspiration
Scorpio: 6 neat, 5 outgoing, 10 active, 4 serious, 0 nice

Keith: Toddler. Grow up aspiration
Pisces: 2 sloppy, 6 outgoing, 8 active, 0 serious, 9 nice

After his business went bankrupt, Henry was forced to sell his old house and start over. He was all the more determined to rebuild, though. He just didn't think that he could take it if he died poor. His daughter joined him at the new house, hoping to finally find the love of her life. She hadn't had much luck in that department so far. Maybe a change of scenery was exactly what she needed. Not to mention that someone had to look after her old man. In his old age he was prone to making overly hasty decisions, thinking that he didn't have much time left to fulfill his lifetime goal of becoming incredibly rich. She was going to keep an eye on him, no matter how little he liked it. Henry agreed because he thought he might need some help with the business. Besides, if she got too pushy he could hopefully just get her hitched (preferably to someone rich) and she'd be out of his hair.

Henry: Fortune, with a LTW of earning 100'000
Gemini: 4 sloppy, 7 outgoing, 8 active, 3 serious, 3 grouchy

Miranda: Family, with a LTW of marrying off 6 children
Aquarius: 4 sloppy, 4 shy, 4 lazy, 7 playful, 6 nice

Getting Started

This is my first blog, so excuse me if it's a bit unprofessional. I'm hoping it'll get better with time as I figure out what I'm doing, lol. I'm always open to tips on how to improve my posting, so don't be afraid to criticise.

I've played the sims a lot, but this is my first attempt at a challenge. I tend to get bored with my sims as soon as the families get too rich, so let's see how this goes. Maybe having several of them will keep me interested.

Oh, and I've decided to go crazy and try to fulfill all their LTWs and IWs if anyhow possible. I might actually score the challenge as well, if I'm feeling up to it.

Anyway... I started off with 5 families and some of them look quite daunting. But then I like challenges :).

The Stevensons:
Samantha: Female elder
Michael: Male adult
Cathleen: Female adult
Frederik: Male child
Hendrik: Male toddler
Sophie: Female toddler

The Mitchells:
Andrew: Male elder
Sarah: Female teen

The Fosters:
Darren: Male adult
Arcadia: Female teen

The McMillans:
Siobhan: Female elder
Keith: Male toddler
Keira: Female toddler
Katelynn: Female toddler

The Stuarts:
Henry: Male elder
Miranda: Female adult