Full House(hold)

GENERATION 2

GWEN'S CURRENT AMOUNT OF KIDS: 7

TOTAL AMOUNT OF KIDS BORN: 16

    Ever been so desperate for cash that you send one of your youngest kids out on a wild goose chase for a bunch of metals and rocks in the dead of winter? Gwen knows that feel -- so it's become a sort of family tradition.

    Thankfully, Jake didn't have to stray too far from home . . . until he had to find an emerald, that is.

   It's a miracle that he didn't get frostbite and Gwen finally got some royalties flowing in:

No surprise the most explicit one makes the most dough.

   Greg, on the other hand, isn't so concerned with earning cash as much as saving cash. He's treating Ingrid and Kendall to some free ice-skating fun, once again killing two birds with one stone on the whole loves his family, the cold and the outdoors.

If Ingrid falls and chips a tooth, at least it's clean.

   Too bad after the two-hour trip, it turns out the pond was too small to support even two Sims. Turns were taken, and spills were seen.

     Gwen's day was much more productive with all the other kids out on the town. The walker's been taking a break as well.

    Even more amazing is that the next day, the easel's finally been getting some work done. This work is entitled "Labor Pains in Sunlit Tides":

     As a reward for completing an amazing total of two paintings, Gwen treated herself to the quickest massage person and hairdresser available at the local spa -- only to actually go into labor twenty minutes after returning home.

   The kids decided to use this time off to make something of a party for this special occasion. Too bad they don't realize this day would've been much more special if they actually went to school and their mom wasn't try to have as much kids as she could possibly have.

    At least the labor didn't last much longer than six hours. Another single baby boy!

At least he'll be interesting to watch.

     Have I mentioned teens are a blessing in this chapter yet? If not, here's the token mention and cute picture.

     After celebrating Mike's arrival with leftover waffles and stu surprise (that misspelling irks me so much, you have no idea), the kids promptly went to take a midday power nap, so Mom and Baby could have some alone time. Also, I finally managed to situate the rooms in a way that everyone isn't crammed like sardines.

     Upon awakening from their food coma, the kids slowly but surely filed downstairs, but before not surprising me with their relationship statuses. Greg had wanted to tell Jake a story -- presumably about getting the school principal fired . . . out of a canon and into the face of the Sun -- only to find that one story wasn't going to fix anything between these two anytime soon.

Karma for stealing all his lollipops?

     Even more surprising is the fact that the two of them had a pretty decent repertoire during dinnertime, but that feeling wore off pretty quick when I got a quick look at Jake's face. There's no way a poison or laxative wasn't slipped in that dish of waffles.

The saying is that eyes are the windows to the soul. Jake is showing his lack thereof.

     Ignorance is bliss.

      At least Ingrid and Kendall have a good enough relationship to share secrets, such as a gem like this:

Doesn't everyone's dad?

     After preparing tomorrow's dinner tonight like your typical 100 Baby Challenge mother, Gwen took some time to write Daniel Pleasant a love letter. Hopefully she can mimic Kaylynn Langerak's handwriting down to a T.

     But enough about that! Gwen's got a birthday to attend to!

Way ahead of you game!

     Much like imaginary friend dolls, the midlife crisis rears its ugly head uninvited, stumbling about like your drunk friend stumbling into your home and throwing up in your antique vase.

     Ingrid speaks for the household.

     Gwen's first action was to log on her laptop and chat with Daniel Pleasant, presumably on Ashley Madisim. After two hours of luring in another victim, Gwen went on to begin writing her new book.

     Apparently Harry is a kick-ass masseur, as he gets a rather hefty holiday bonus. For a guy that only gets $100 per workday even this has to be overkill.

     We need all the cash we can get though, because in addition to a feast, the triplets are having their teen birthday.

Sleeping? With five teens in the house? lol

     The triplets, surprisingly enough, decided to spend their last hours of childhood not by staring at screens of various sizes, but rather by playing outside. Too bad they ended up feeling frozen after 2 hours or so, because these scenes were cute as hell.

Fun fact: In wintertime, I used my beach toys to make snow-castles and snow-starfish.

      With all that bonding out of the way, the trips are ready for the likes of proms, he-said-she-said, snubbing, and college applications.

     These guys grew up pretty good despite Griffin Alto's genes.

     Ingrid still has the same opinion on her mom's midlife crisis. She got a glimpse of Gwen's text to Daniel, and, well . . . 

  Will Gwen get a pink-tipped fauxhawk? When will she earn the money to get a new hot rod? How will her daughters' jeans fit on her? Tune in next time, same Sim time same Sim channel!

Tropical Freeze

GENERATION 2

GWEN'S CURRENT AMOUNT OF KIDS: 6

TOTAL AMOUNT OF KIDS BORN: 15

   This game can be so insanely erratic regarding children and their education. Before they even leave their home for the first time ever, they assign them homework on topic they couldn't possibly know -- and cancel the next day over a light snowfall? (I used testingcheatsenabled true to look at the weather status.)

To be fair, any amount of snow is too much for Sunlit Tides.

    Regardless, any day spent bonding with her children is a good one. Gwen had some unfinished business to settle, though. The long awaited painting? Not even a solid $200 for it.

   Money is money, so, eh, no big deal. Getting pregnant again is the big deal, but with this new reward and Fertility Treatment combined, Gwen is sure to be spitting out babies like a potato gun.

     With Gavin on the way, it's time to get their hormones skyrocketing.

     Too bad that reward is either glitched, or Gwen's a victim of false advertising.

 

    Fine, whatever, it's not like Gwen's getting any older and the game is glitching out on a snow day YET AGAIN. /sarcasm

Yeah game, it's not like I WANT my kids to improve their grades.

   Thankfully, Gavin was up for going to a "tour" of Captain Jack's Theater, while Greg was the only kid smart enough to blow off the school bus.

But not smart enough to keep an eye on Logan.

   Meanwhile, I'm just amused that Gavin didn't feel comfortable cheating on his wife, Alice, in comfort of his lover's home on clean sheets on a freaking hover-bed, but was totally down for doing it in public, presumably on a nasty buttered-popcorn-and-nacho-cheese encrusted theater seat. 

Even if you had a huge exhibition fetish, a theater's the last place
I'd exhibit the goods.

     Unlike the tour, they were thoroughly intrigued with one another. 

     The kids, on the other hand, had no such surprises or enjoyment this day.

    Once they reached home, Harry took a nap before work, the girls made up for lost time by catching up on their shows and Jake decided to go fishing. In the pool.

Ah, imagination.

    Without the sound of a baby jingle confirmation a pregnancy, Gwen promptly returned home and decided to actually hang out with her kids for once. Interestingly (or sadly), Kendall was the only kid in the challenge so far to actually have a wish to get some attention from Mom. I guess her siblings subconsciously realized at a young age that Mom was going to have her hands full?

      As such, Greg spent his day with his little brothers and sisters, showing off his love of the outdoors, the cold and his family all at once. Here, he taught Ingrid how to make a classic snowman while her thoughts were about heading back into the house to have a submarine adventure in a nice, hot bathtub with a rubber ducky.

   Jake tried to join in, only to find the two had just finished up. His response was very un-sportsmanlike.

    Greg must have saw what happened to his goalie snowman and, while appreciative of his brother's creative use of a hockey stick, decided that he didn't want to be on the receiving end of it. As such, he dealt with the barrage of loud, technicolor calamity of sound and images that passes as the KiDZone channel.

     Gwen could hear it from all the way upstairs, but pushed it aside so that little Logan can get to growing up. Maybe it's because he was the result of a single birth and not competing with any other siblings, but he's been a remarkably quiet toddler. If he's not sleeping, he's playing in the toy-box or sucking down on a bottle.

     Also, this.

     Meanwhile, Fluffy made some sweet cash.

    With a new baby on the way, Gwen announced it one-on-one to the others, who were all over the moon about the announcement. Jacob actually got a wish to win a game against Gwen!

     Hopefully the new baby's better at playing with peg puzzles than their new big brother. . . 

 . . . And that the triplets can deal with toddlers as well as Greg.

I love this animation. Logan just does not want to let go.

   With another baby daddy crossed off the list, Gwen needs to scout out some more on that online dating service. Guess who we got a message from?

And didn't have the dignity to turn him down?

     Gwen didn't have much opportunity to flirt with him, though. The kids need blueberry pancakes and we need some Simoleons to buy the ingredients! (In real life, It would be pretty convenient to just deposit some cash in your fridge and then ingredients show up. Shame The Sims 2 didn't go that route.)

      Maybe, I haven't mentioned this (enough), but seriously, if you value your sanity use your teens. Greg's usefulness just multiplied double-fold.

     The kids are at least brushing up on their trash-talking game. Too bad you can't chuck bills in the trash.

     Nothing particularly interesting happened for the rest of the night. Gwen's bump started to show, Greg and Harry received their Prom notifications, and Greg's stint as Golden Boy is still passing with colors.

     I know all Sims are bit quirky in their own way, but I think Greg and Harry are pushing their luck just being invited to Prom. Neither of them scream boyfriend material.

Greg is one-night-stand-and-then-baby-daddy material, though.

     But, to be fair to kid Sims, there isn't much they can do with toddler-aged siblings aside from giving them bottles (useful) and taking away their candy (misguided concern?). Jake and Kendall at tried to join with block-building, but Logan noped out with that. It's not helping that Jake is giving an unsettling Greg-like grin.

      At least the game allows kids to wander off into the wilderness in the name of scientific research and cold-hard cash. Heaven knows the Hollands need it.

   As of tonight, none of that money needs to go to diapers for the time being.

   With all of the kids tucked away in bed, Gwen got right to some serious typing. Within three hours of having her first cup of coffee, she finally finished Alonso's biography, gaining her some cash and Alonso's respect -- which is the last thing she needs.

   She proceeded to kill it when writing and illustrating her comic book. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.

     Gwen's still not far from finished when it comes to earning royalties -- but her young adult stage is almost up. Being just two days away from officially becoming an adult and another baby -- how long will she be able to fight off the urges to get a midlife crisis tattoo and crows' feet?