Rosebud Prosperity Challenge

Starring:

Alain Beaumont, Adult Family Sim, LTW Reach Golden Anniversary

Meadow Beaumont, Adult Family Sim, LTW Raise 20 Puppies or Kittens

Marc Beaumont, Child Popularity Sim, LTW Grow Up Well

~*~*~*~*~

Last round at the Beaumont house, Marc aged into a toddler and then into a child. Meadow earned her gold gardening talent badge, and Cleo's first litter of puppies was given up for adoption. How will the family manage this round? Will Meadow get closer to achieving her LTW? We'll see.

The fall season started off with good news: thanks to the tutelage of Meadow and Alain, Marc was getting straight A's in school - a very significant feat!

For the Beaumonts, fall was the season of hobbies. Meadow revived her love of fishing (which fit so well with her love of gardening).

She even managed to get a gold fishing talent badge. The badge wasn't at all what she was shooting for, but it was a nice memento for her to keep in honor of her excellence.

The real benefit to Meadow's gardening and fishing interests were that the family rarely had to go to the grocery store for anything but beef or pork. Meadow frequently made feasts of her fresh vegetables and freshly caught fish for the family. It was a great way to save money, and Meadow truly loved living off the land in this way.

Alain, too, indulged in his hobbies. In an effort to both feed his interest in art and augment the family funds, he continued painting and managed to earn a gold arts & crafts hobby plaque. It seemed amazing to him that his relaxing hobby could produce an income for the family.

The same happened with his toymaking hobby: he loved to tinker at the bench in Meadow's garden-basement, but it always surprised him that doing something he enjoyed so much could also earn the family some money.

Even Marc got into the act. He was learning how to be a true angler from his mom, and even though he hadn't gotten any badges for his efforts, he still loved spending an evening out by the water-side with his mom, quietly and calmly fishing.

Of course, as a young man attending public school, he had other interests too - like making new friends. There were plenty of children in the neighborhood, and there was never any shortage of friends to bring home to play with the dogs or even engage in a simple game of rock, paper, scissors.

Meadow continued to dote on her pets, as always, in between doting on her plants and catching her fish. One evening, Cleo gave birth to a small litter of two, much to Meadow's delight. Meadow dubbed the pair Max and Sara, for no particular good reason other than the names sounded right to her ears. Once again, the Beaumont house rang with the tiny yips of newborn pups.

Alain, deciding he wanted a change of pace from the architecture career, made a switch to a more artistic career path: music. Apparently, the switch suited him well, as he was shortly promoted to rock star and brought home plenty of cash in bonuses.

Meadow, finally feeling like the wife and mother that she was (instead of a freshly-graduated college student) decided on a change of looks. That dress was perfect for Susie Homemaker, but it wasn't right for Meadow... the earthy mom and wife who loved to garden and fish. She finally felt like she was growing into her own skin. Despite how young they still felt, Meadow and Alain were finally starting to understand that they were adults, and that they could craft their existence however they saw fit. It was an eye-opening and liberating realization.

[[Author's Notes: Wow, sorry for the lack of pics this round. They are pretty simple people! Alain works and makes toys or paints. Meadow takes care of the dogs, gardens, and fishes. And Marc does his homework, makes friends, and fishes too. It's a pretty simple existence for these guys, and a refreshing change for me! Stick around to see how these semi-hippies do next round. :) Only one blooper for you...

Blooper:
Jump around, what!?!?! Daddy Mack'll make ya...! ]]

[[No family pic...just this...which has spoilers, sorry. :( ]]

Starring:

Caitlin Vinci, Adult Family Sim, LTW Graduate 3 Children From College

Paolo Vinci, Adult Family Sim, LTW Have 6 Grandchildren

Leo Vinci, Child Family Sim, LTW Grow Up Well

Gemma Vinci, Child Romance Sim, LTW Grow Up Well

Willow Vinci, Child Romance Sim, LTW Grow Up Well

Gina Vinci, Toddler Knowledge Sim, LTW Grow Up Well

~*~*~*~*~

Last round at the Vinci household, the three oldest teens - Silvio, Conor, and Liam - moved out to attend Sim State. This made room for the family to adopt Willow and for Caitlin to give birth to the newest member of the family: Gina. How will this overstuffed house cope this round, when they still need to have three more children to have? We'll see!

Life at the Vinci house, in a word, was busy. In addition to the passel of children that actually lived in the house, there were always neighborhood children dropping buy to play basketball or tag or cops and robbers or any other number of games. It wasn't unlikely to see two or three children from two or three different families visiting with individual members of the young Vinci clan. [Pictured above: Willow playing basketball with cousin Grace Vinci, Gemma chatting with Bijou Beaumont.]

Caitlin and Paolo, despite what could have easily turned into a majorly hectic situation, continued maintaining a supremely regular schedule that kept the whole family on track and organized. Every night, the children were allowed to play until dinner time, with friends if they brought some home, and then it was the homework hour, where they all gathered to study with the help of their parents. Then, they could indulge in any hobbies like watching the Yummy Channel or playing the piano or chess. Then bedtime. It was a strict schedule, but the Vincis made sure that their children had plenty enough free time that they wouldn't mind the few stricter hours of the night. Chores were never really officially doled out. The rule was if you found something dirty, you cleaned it. If you dirtied something yourself, you cleaned it. It seemed to work okay, especially given that they had a neatnik in the house in the form of Gemma.

It always seemed like it was someone's birthday in the Vinci house, and this time, it was Gina's turn. Caitlin brought her up to the cake (they should have bought stock in Betty Crocker) and blew out the candles for the little infant.

Up sprang a little girl who looked very much like her daddy, though she had her mother's blue eyes.

She had a very balanced personality and seemed as though she would be a pretty even-keel little girl. She was decidedly playful and kind, and though she wasn't as neat as, say, Gemma and Silvio, she still wasn't the type to leave messes lying around the house.

She was a sweet little girl who loved playing with her music toy the most. Almost all day, the members of the house would pass by and hear the notes of her banging the mallet on the bars, followed by an infectious giggling.

She wasn't going to be the baby of the family for long, though, as was typical in the Vinci household. First came the morning sickness.

And then came the pop!

With so many children in the house and Caitlin pregnant and exhausted most of the time, Paolo made sure to put his cooking skills to good use. He made sure that the refrigerator was constantly stocked with kid-friendly food like grilled cheese, mac and cheese, hot dogs, and spaghetti. Of course, with Caitlin going through one more pregnancy, he also made sure there was plenty of Grandma's Comfort Soup on hand for her as well.

It was especially nice for the children to be able to come home, sometimes with friends, and have an afternoon snack to get their energy up for playing before dinnertime. Not only was the Vinci household becoming famous in the neighborhood for always having children to play with, they were also becoming famous for their yummy afternoon snacks!

Soon there was to be one less child in the house. Leo's birthday had finally come, and he was about to become a sparkly new teenager.

He blew out the candles and turned into a teenager that looked decidedly like his twin brothers Conor and Liam.

Leo was a family sim, and he was a family sim with goals. He decided that he wanted to serve his community of Rosebud in the best way he knew how: he wanted to be a police officer. More than that, he wanted to be a superhero. Then he could really fight crime in style.

Joining him in teenagerhood a few days later was his slightly younger sister Willow. As always, the family gathered around while she blew out her candles.

She grew up knowing that she wanted to enjoy the opposite sex as much as possible. In her old home, her father had had power over her. Now, she wanted to have power over men, and she knew that she could...

After all, who could resist that tan skin and those chocolate brown eyes?

With a quick trip to the mall for a birthday celebration makeover, she got some new clothes and a sassy new haircut. She felt like a million bucks and looked like it, too.

In fact, she felt so good, she felt she could do anything, even be a rock star.

The newly aged teens spent more time with their parents, though Willow had always been unusually attached to Paolo. She was even learning as much as she could from him about cooking. He had become her hero and, in some buried place in the back of her mind, her savior from the terrible life she'd had before.

Caitlin decided the family needed a break from all the birthdays, so she decided to have a birth instead!

Within a few hours, a bouncing baby boy with brown hair and blue eyes was born. They named him Giovanni, in honor of Paolo's Italian heritage.

As soon as Caitlin was recovered from the birth and on her feet again, it was time for little Gina to become a child. She was so pleasant and easy at entertaining herself that it was easy for her to get lost in the shuffle. That's why Paolo and Caitlin made sure to make a big deal out of her birthday.

She grew into a somewhat awkward but still adorable young child with the same sweet personality as ever.

Me: "Hey, Paolo and Caitlin. What are you guys up to?" Them: "Oh, nothing, just talking about the weather." Me: "Uh huh."

You liars.

Caitlin was already starting to show when it was time for Giovanni to age into a toddler.

He had the sweetest face, definitely with his mother's chin shape, and her blue eyes as well.

Again, they were blessed with a neat, kind child who was a little shy and serious, but very active.

Leo, with all these birthdays and births happening, spent most of his free time working on his skills. He wanted to have the best scholarships ever for college, and he was nearing maxing all of his skills at that young of an age! If he could get a job too, he'd have the highest number of scholarships in Rosebud!

[[Author Notes: Another insane yet somehow orderly round in the Vinci house! Their total tally of children is 8: Silvio, Conor, Liam, Leo, Willow, Gemma, Gina, and Giovanni. Liz suggested cheesecake for next round, and I'm totally going for it! Then I can put this crazy IW to bed and NEVER do it again. :) I have to admit, I picked the right family for it, though. These guys are great, even despite the fact that someone is having a birthday every other day. :) Lots of fun bloopers!

Bloopers:
This is a series that requires a bit of explanation. Apparently, Opal Reimond came home with Willow from school one day. Remember anything about Opal? Yeah, that's right, she was Paolo's first kiss. Apparently, she never really got over him: