Wednesday 6 June 2012

Margarita

Round 33: July 2038 (Winter)
last update/next update


Steve Nihill is 43, Olivia is 41, Ramona is 11, Jacinta is 8 and Theo is 3.
(Ruby is 11)
Narrated by Steve Nihill

I’ve always wanted a big family, so I thought I’d find myself wanting another baby as Theo got older.

Theo will be 3 in November though and I don’t feel like I want another at all.

And it’s not because Theo has been difficult. He was an easy baby and he hasn’t been very demanding as a toddler either.

He’s been a ton of fun, actually. Especially this year, when I discovered he might have an affinity for music. I can’t wait to see if and how he develops that.

But it still doesn’t make me want any more kids. I simply feel like we’re finished now, with the three kids we have.

Olivia is happy with that, I know. She’s never had any desire at all for more than three children.

We’ve discussed taking permanent measures to make sure Olivia doesn’t get pregnant again but for now at least, we’ve decided against it.

It was so hard for us to conceive Jacinta and we’re both over 40 now, so the chance of an oops doesn’t seem very high.

At least, I hope not. It’s sort of a relief to think that all the trials of the baby and toddler years will soon be behind us for good.

Maybe I should be savouring it all a bit more though, because time really does go by fast. Jacinta is 8 now, which I can’t believe!

She’s in the same classroom as Ramona this year, so she feels like quite a grown-up. She’s finally one of the “big kids” at school.

Jacinta does have a tendency towards acting really silly sometimes though. It’s mostly regular kid stuff but Ramona has always been so serious and it’s quite a contrast.

She actually likes doing chores, so we try to keep her busy and out of trouble. It’s her job to make sure Tag’s bed is nice and clean before he goes to sleep every night.

Actually, Jacinta has taken on most of the responsibilities with Tag. She's really great with him.

Jacinta is the one who takes him for a walk most days too. Just around the block - we’re not quite ready for her to be crossing the street on her own yet.

Ramona is still very close with her best friend Ruby and they spend just about all their free time together.

I think Ramona would have Ruby move in if she could but she’ll have to be content with the occasional sleepover. Now that it's winter, they really enjoy their movie nights.

The pizza and fried chicken we let them have is a nice bonus too.

I don’t think much sleeping goes on but it’s only ever on the weekends, so it’s not a big deal.

Ramona will be starting high school next year, which I’m trying not to worry too much about. She's got a good head on her shoulders and I’m hoping that will help, once she starts taking an interest in boys.

Ruby’s already talking about boys, which is somewhat terrifying. Olivia and I are praying Ramona’s complete lack of interest lasts just a little bit longer.

Maybe Ramona can have an influence on Ruby and not the other way around!

So far, Ramona is more interested in cooking than anything else.

I’m pretty hopeless in the kitchen but Olivia learnt a little from her brother. She’s been showing Ramona a few things too. If she keeps that as her main interest when she starts Grade 7, I’m not going to be at all disappointed.

It doesn’t feel like I’m quite old enough to have a daughter in high school yet but my recent 43rd birthday brought me back to Earth. Olivia and the kids got me a fantastic present - a brand new violin!

My previous one was looking pretty shabby, so I was thrilled. I had to try it out right then and there, of course. Ramona is a little past being incredibly impressed with her dad but Jacinta still likes to hear me play every now and then!

That night, Olivia had organised a surprise party for me, at Starry Nights Function Centre.

I don’t know how she did it without me having the slightest idea what was going on but she did!

The vast majority of our friends were there, including a few we hadn’t had much of a chance to catch up with over the past few years.

And plenty who we see all the time as well!

It was an after dinner thing, so it was just drinks and dancing. Despite my musical inclinations, I’m not much of a dancer.

Not many others were either though, so it was still a lot of fun.

Olivia insisted on doing a toast, which wasn’t really necessary.

She has a way with words though and I was glad she insisted, in the end. Who doesn’t like hearing nice things about themselves?

When we got home, the kids were all in bed, so for all intents and purposes, we had the house to ourselves. Our kids are all pretty good but it’s still very rare for the house to be so quiet.

We would have been crazy not to have taken advantage of that, so of course, we did.

I think we both equally enjoyed the celebrations. Olivia is already hinting about doing something similar for her own birthday in September!

Notes:

  • Title is from Margarita by Starlight Mints.
  • "Permanent measures" in game would be me setting Olivia to "cannot get pregnant". I haven't done that but Steve and Olivia must have woohooed 5 or 6 times this session and they didn't try for a baby once. Steve's IFS is 5 but he seems to be letting Olivia decide, seeing hers is 3.
  • I was planning on using one of these lovely recolours for Steve's new violin but I was lame and forgot to download them and then completely forgot where they were.
  • That will be the last time you see Ramona as a child (barring any possible cameos in other updates). Crazy!
  • I think I've seen Starry Nights used in other people's games more often than I've seen it in mine, so I thought it might be time to give it another run-through. It's a nice option for large parties and right now, it's a bargain because I haven't been bothered to set a rental price for it. ;) My Sims have been using it for free so far.

24 comments:

  1. Free is a great bargain, how are you going to set the rental price for it? The family looked great, loved the dog walking photos, so cute.

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    1. For the rental fee, I'll pretty much just pick something that sounds good. ;) There's no rhyme or reason to the way I set that kind of thing!

      The Nihills are a sweet family. I never take the poor dogs in my game for a walk, so I gave Jacinta a job to do. ;)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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    2. So how do you charge the rental fee?

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    3. I usually just use Monique's computer and use the Donate to Charity or Transmit Money to Sim options. Lately, I've been donating it, because the governor's treasury is full.

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  2. The party looks fantastic and I absolutely love the Starry Nights Hall. Jacinta looks so sweet walking the dog and I loved Ramona and Ruby's sleepover. It looked so fun!

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    1. The party was fun, though I wish I'd had a bit more time with it! Lucky I have Starry Nights all set up and didn't have to fuss around with that, at least.

      I don't think I'd had a sleepover with children before (or not in a while, anyway), so I thought I'd give it a go. I was just glad I remembered I had that junk food!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  3. Such a cute family, given who Ruby's dad is I wouldn't count on Ramona being the one doing the influencing lol. But she seems to be a very level headed girl and while she may not calm Ruby down, it doesn't mean that Ruby will have the opposite affect on her :). I can't wait to see them as teens!

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    1. Ha, yes, Ruby is quite a strong-willed girl! Ramona hasn't got into too much trouble with her so far though, so hopefully, that won't change! I think they're going to be a lot of fun as teens. :)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  4. Oh boy, you know Ruby is going to be one boy-crazy teenager! Let's just hope Ramona's disinterest remains for a few more years... haha. I can't wait to see what they get up to as teens!

    I'm so jealous that your sims are actually behaving. Mine seem to want to procreate whenever I turn my back. I actually had to turn off pregnancy for two of them. x_x

    I need to do more sleepovers with my sims. They added it in generations, but I've just never bothered with it! I need to explore options unfamiliar to me more, sigh.

    Loved Steve's birthday! Olivia is such a good wife.

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    1. Yeah, I think Luc will start to feel everything the fathers of all his girls must have felt, when he was in his prime! Ruby's going to be trouble but hopefully, Ramona can keep out of it. ;)

      Can you set an Ideal Family size with the Woohooer? Before that option with ACR, I wouldn't have dreamed of letting any of my Sims stay off BC, because they would try much more often than not. But they're more sensible now that I can set an IFS, especially if one half (or both) reaches it. There's still Risky Woohoo and birth control failures though, of course!

      Sleepovers are cute in TS3. I found myself wishing for the sleeping bags, just to set the scene a little more. I should look around for some deco ones!

      Yeah, Steve thinks he's got a pretty good wife too. ;) Olivia hasn't got a bad husband either!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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    2. Generations actually came with sleeping bags, they are in the buy menu somewhere. Supposedly, if you throw a proper sleep over party (I guess by using the party menu), the sims automatically go to sleep IN their own sleeping bags at 9pm.

      There IS an idea family size and it's set to 2, but it's modified higher/lower by traits/etc. That didn't stop Kelly from jumping Oskar every five seconds with 'Try for Baby'... geeze!
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    3. Oh, yeah, I knew the sleeping bags existed in TS3; I was just wishing I had them in TS2 for this session! But I've downloaded some you can "relax" on that look like they're fairly well made. So maybe next time!

      Argh, that's kind of annoying. I like to have full control over that kind of thing myself. Especially in TS3, where I'm constantly worried the hood will run out of space. Seriously, TS3 needs subhoods!

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  5. For me at least, when my sims throw a sleep over, around 9:30 - 10 ish the guests and the host will all pull out their bags and go to sleep. Mine always pick the kitchen to sleep in. LOL I have no idea why. Silly sims.

    Wow, Ramona as a teen! That is crazy, but I was playing my school last night and I realized that soon I will have teens becoming young adults. That was an eye opener as well. You get so used to them being in one age stage for so long that it's a shock when they get older.

    And here's to no "oops babies"! Three is good for them.

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    1. Probably the same reason TS2 Sims always pick the one spot on the lot that's paved to "cuddle under the stars", instead of lying on the nice soft grass, lol!

      Yes, you do definitely grow accustomed to Sims being a certain age and then they have to go and change on you! I'm looking forward to all my age-ups this January though, as I usually do. Except Willow. I'm sad to lose Toddler Willow, lol!

      And hear hear! No oops babies for these two! It's pretty unrealistic for a 41-year-old with a history of fertility problems, I would think.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  6. The party was a nice surprise! I can't believe how old Steve and Olivia are becoming! And high school aged kids! That's gonna be something else. I can see why Steve doesn't want to start all over again with his girls getting so old.

    I do use the permanent measure option, and Olivia probably should if she really doesn't want anymore, but with her history, I don't know if she'd realistically even bother. But then she could be 54 and popping out a kid too!

    The hall for the birthday looked great! I can't remember if I ever installed that one into my game, I know I downloaded it at one point. As for Ruby, she's definitely the kind of girl, I would probably not want my daughter to hang with as they became teens, boy crazy at 11! Scary stuff! I'm sure she won't be too outta control as a teen though.

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    1. Yes, approaching your mid-40s and thinking about going through the baby stage again is probably rather daunting! I think Olivia and Steve are definitely done.

      I may still take permanent measures with Olivia, just in case. I was really mainly curious as to whether a couple where one Sim had reached their IFS and the other hadn't would keep on trying for a baby. I keep thinking of your Nicole, not to mention my Araminta - it can happen, lol!

      Steve and Olivia are lucky Ramona has her head screwed on straight and can mostly keep herself out of trouble, even when Ruby gets one of her ideas! They just have to pray she stays so sensible once hormones hit!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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    2. I've noticed most sims stop at the lesser number but Grace and Benjamin TFB a few times now and her IFS is 2 and his is 3, so it can happen. Which I was glad to see, because I was beginning to think it couldn't.

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    3. Age has a lot to do with it as well, I think, both the age of the couple and the age of their kids. Older Sims are less likely to try, so because Grace and Benjamin are younger, they might still be open to expanding their family. And the older the oldest child is, the less likely Sims are to try.

      But yeah, I'm glad it doesn't always depend on the Sim with the lowest IFS. Mostly because Nathan's IFS is 1 and I want him to have more than one kid, lol!

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  7. It's strange to see everyone get older. I've always counted Olivia and Steve to the younger group. It's not the 40 is old, but it's just strange to think about them as 40-year olds!

    I'm really looking foraward to seeing Ramona and Ruby as teens! They are so much fun already, and I cann't wait to see what they will be up to as teens!

    Their family seems really perfect the way it is. Seeing Olivia's history I don't think there's a huge chance for another baby, but then again, anything seems possible! That's why I have Dirk Penninkmeijer undergoing permanent measues! I'm already having a panic-attack by the thought they might have another set of twins!

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    1. I feel the same way about Olivia and Steve, and their cohort. They really don't seem that old but they're older than Finn and Victoria's gang and those guys are all approaching 40 now! Which is probably even harder to believe.

      I'm looking forward to seeing Ruby and Ramona as teens too. I'm keen to see what they look like (I think someone here a while back said Ruby will probably look like a black-haired Cordy and I tend to agree!) but just watching what they get up to will be a lot of fun too. I can only imagine the trouble Ruby will get herself into.

      Heh, now that I've done my experimentation, I'll probably reconsider the permanent measures! There'll be even less chance of Steve and Olivia conceiving next round but you can never be too careful, can you? And I like their house and don't want to move them. ;) I'd have to if they had another.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  8. The surprise party was very nice-it seems like fun was had by all. I wonder if they might end up with an oopsie baby? Here's hoping they don't!

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    1. My poor Popularity Sims are always rolling wants for parties and they hardly ever get them, lol. I should do them more often, especially now my computer can handle them a bit better.

      I just remembered Theo was an oops (he was an ROS oops but Olivia ended up getting knocked up on her own anyway), so maybe I shouldn't be so cavalier about Olivia's infertility! It wasn't that long ago, after all!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  9. I think this is a great little family and I can't see them with more than 3 kids either. At least they're a nice group of kids unlike Asha's rowdy kids lol. I just had to sneek a peek at Ruby and Ramona's profiles since I noticed they aged up at the end of the round. I'll talk about them when the birthday post goes live but I can't wait to see them in action as teens already :).

    I liked the girls' sleepover. I remember my sleepovers with my cousins at that age and boy, the things we talked about! LOL! That's great that Steve had such a nice birthday party. I think I said it in Asha and Luc's update but I still can't believe this group is in their 40s.. and very soon, with high-schoolers!

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    1. In my view, four kids is where I start thinking "big family" and I never saw Steve and Olivia having a big family. Three is right for them. And they got lucky with a nice bunch of kids too, so they should quit while they're ahead! ;)

      The sleepover was a lot of fun. I should do those with my kids more often. I think I've only done them with teens before. I'm kind of excited to be able to use the deco sleeping bags I downloaded!

      I know, it's hard to believe they're so old now! Steve will be 45 next time we see him, which means he'll have his middle-aged wrinkles! Crazy!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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