Matthews Family Legacy G2E2

If you're new to the Ella Matthews Legacy, you can go {here} to begin reading with Episode 1!

In the last episode (G2E1), Generation 2's matriarch Alyson and her husband Quentin had their first child (Elliott, Generation 3 heir), and her sister Amelia left home (shew!). Little by little, this legacy is continuing on. 

Even though I'm moving the non-heir kids out as soon as they get an A in high school, it's still a little sad to see them go in a way. And today Sebastian got an A. Time to say goodbye, my young klepto fan. Time to wreak havoc with the town as a young adult.

Sebastian celebrated by himself. It was at night and everyone else was in bed.

He aged up with a decent trait this time. At least he's a cheerful klepto. *snort* 

I selected an aspiration for him. Along with his skills-set, I chose for him to seek the line of comedian.

Out the door he went, and I selected a nice little home for him to live in. Hopefully he'll find a partner who'll put up with him, and maybe he'll even have a kid or two. Who knows.

He's set up in his own home now, with a new career and some furniture to get him started.
Good luck to ya, kid. Sorry you won't get my full attention anymore. But hey, surprise me with some hopeful pursuits, eh?

Back to the main legacy house... Elliott and grandma Ella (who is stiiiiill an Adult, thanks to that aging up glitch that should've taken her to Elderhood) are hanging out together. Elliott seems like a pretty talkative kid. I've noticed that some sims will sit at a table, eating or doing homework, and never speak. Not this kid. He's a Motor Aspiration sim, but I swear I think he's a closet Social Aspiration kid.

He has a B in school, so he may be aging to Teen soon.

Meanwhile, Gramps Sergio is about to kick the bucket. Poor dude has been anticipating death for three sim days now. He doesn't seem to be feeling pressure though. Although he does have some sort of rash right now. Yikes.

I figure he'll pass away on the cusp of maxing out his piano skill. We'll see.

Grandma Ella got stuck. Tried to reset her, and it didn't work. In this picture, she is in the back yard talking to her husband Sergio through two walls, where he is in the dining room eating.

Those walls must be pretty thin.

Thankfully, closing the game and reloading set her to rights. Girl, don't be pulling anymore stunts. My time is precious, you know.

The artwork done by Ella and son-in-law Quentin is adding up. Sergio's music that he writes is adding a nice bonus, and Alyson's produce is selling at decent rates now.

They have nicely racked up some money, so I did a little renovating and added on some rooms and replaced the cheapie windows with more expensive ones.

Little by little, the house is improving, and the outdoors is coming along as well.

They've got a huge lot to fill up, and I imagine that it may not take them long to do it, with how quickly the money is piling up.

"You woke me at 2AM to tell me what?"

Alyson is flapping her arms like mad, and she's so excited she can't talk straight.

Quentin thinks this could've waited till 6am. "I guess you're pregnant? You act like this is the first time. Elliott is almost a teenager, so I guess you're just dying to get your hands on a baby, right? I'll let you wake up to feed it."

She's thrilled as can be. It's about time this  house gets filled up with kids again. At least now everyone has room to breathe.

Alyson was in a good mood after announcing her pregnancy, so I had her go ahead and get an early start on the garden. Alyson has the Freelance Botanist aspiration. She's doing very well with her gardening, and I think she'll definitely finish it before she croaks.

I've not had a Cowplant in Sims 4. I only ever had one in Sims 2, and I let it die. So I'll be anxious to see what happens with this one.

Last night, Sergio spun the want to Woohoo with Ella. Since Sergio is due to kick the proverbial bucket at any moment, I figured I'd go ahead and allow him to. Well.... that 10% chance became 100% with Risky Woohoo.

I play my legacy game this way, knowing that there's always that small chance. It keeps the Legacy Challenge from getting boring. The look on Sergio's face though is classic!

And, thankfully, Alyson doesn't look a bit upset by her mom upstaging her wonderful day.

Kudos to you, Alyson.

Later that evening, little Elliott brought home an A from school. Mom made him a chocolate cake for his birthday.

He aged up nicely, and thankfully no really bad personality traits were randomly selected. His aspiration is Computer Whiz.

Alyson's pregnancy passed by quickly enough! Baby Ewan was born, and I do believe he's going to look just like his brother Elliott and dad Quentin.

I'll be anxious to see if he has any of Alyson's features.

Two hours after Alyson had "the spare" Ewan, her mom Ella gave birth to a fourth baby, Martin.

Martin appears to be taking his father's physical features as well.

Ella had Martin just as it was time to go to work, so she left him crying with Alyson to feed him a bottle while I sent Ella to her job as Illustrious Illustrator. We need that almighty dollar, ya know.

Then, oh my goodness, Sergio was literally walking out the door to go to his job that afternoon, and The Reaper showed up. Oh shoot!

What made it worse is that Ella and her grandson Elliott came home right in time to see The Reaper take Sergio's soul away. Ella didn't even get to plead. :(

I think I'll wrap it up on that note. The first has passed in this challenge. Ella still has 12 days left till Elder, thanks to that glitch. I hope she manages to age next time.

Check back for the next episode, as Elliott will be finishing up high school, and the babies will be toddlers.

Thanks for reading! And as always, if you have any suggestions for future names, please leave them below. I keep a list! Thanks to Kristin for Ewan's and Martin's names!

Matthews Family Legacy G2E1

If you're new to the Ella Matthews Legacy, you can go {here} to begin reading with Episode 1!

In the last episode (G1E5), we saw Alyson, generation two's matriarch, age into a young adult. This means that she is no longer an "underling" and has succeeded her mom!

Speaking of her mom, the chick finally aged, and SHOULD HAVE aged to Elder, but she glitched and is still an Adult! Why do these things happen? This totally has messed with the game. And since *my* rule is that if they cue the want to have a child, I have to allow it. Another bad thing is that Sergio will be passing on long before she will, and she will be a widow for quite a while before her time is up. *sad*
 
Quentin, Alyson's husband, had moved in with them when they were teens, simply because I had been having a glitch in my game that reset all relationship factors down to zero whenever I played a new house. So to keep from having to cheat and "fix" their relationship values every time they saw each other, I just had him move in. Now Quentin has aged up into a Young Adult as well, and Alyson proposed. She is the Matriarch after all! It just felt fitting, especially since he's taking on the family name. 

These two didn't waste any time. They got hitched right there in the kitchen as they were. With Mom Ella watching on. Looking a little creepy there, Ella. If you weren't already there eating your eggs, I'd wonder if you were a bit envious and a little upset at losing your title as Star of the Legacy. 

Maybe not. Carry on, carry on.

Alyson and Quentin went a few days before the want for a child popped up, but they finally had a child of their own--a boy that I named Elliott (I think someone suggested it, but I can't remember who!). Somehow I missed getting pictures of all of that. Sorry!

Ella is doing well for herself. The family has so much money it's not funny. Well, I mean not "so much money" really--they're still living simply, but they have $17k, so I think they're doing pretty well. Here's a general picture of what the family income includes:

So as you can see, they're doing pretty well. Even though Alyson stays home and has no career outside the home, she makes a decent amount of change from her garden and a little bit of money from her photography. Once Mom and Dad are gone, they should still be doing fine financially.

In the meantime, the household continues to do their thing. Sebastian aged into a Teenager, and he needs a makeover. Most definitely.

And naturally the dude rolled a trait that I despise: Klepto. He has already been snatching things from neighboring homes when he's been invited over. How annoying.

Anyway, dude got a makeover and looks better.

Alyson and Quentin's son Elliott, Generation Three's Patriarch, aged up into a child, and thankfully he rolled a decent trait. One more annoying kid born in this family and I just might have to quit. So annoying! He's pretty cute, too, so I'll wait and see how he ages into Teen before I do a makeover.
 
Amelia, the "spare", is ready to become a young adult. Time to give her the boot--I mean, let her leave the nest. Let her be Dastardly somewhere else! I think most of her family members will be glad to get rid of her, sadly!

She added Loves the Outdoors to her traits, which is very convenient for her. She has Level 7 Fishing. I had to give her some kind of hobby outside the home, and Fishing got her out of everyone's hair. 

Now she gets to move out on her own, and I'll get to deal with her in a home of her own with a man of her own. I have her slated to marry a Villareal. That should be fun. *grin*

That's all I have to report for this episode. I'll leave you with pictures of some small upgrades of the house.

A painting room for the two artists

 

Exercise area in the basement

Bathroom and closet edition in master bed upstairs

Entire basement view

Entire first floor view

Second floor view

Thanks for reading!! I look forward to sharing more with you soon!

*Please share in the comments below any names that you'd like for me to use to name the Third Generation of Matthews kids!

Ella Matthews Legacy Challenge - G1E5

If you're new to the Ella Matthews Legacy, you can go {here} to begin reading with Episode 1!

The previous chapter of Ella's journey ended with a house renovation. The beginning of this journey starts with another renovation.

The house is slowly accumulating more stuff as Ella and Sergio get more rewards from their job promotions. Ella's items specifically take a lot of room, as she's in the Painter career. And thanks to Sergio's field of Music, he's got a honkin' piano in the basement. One of these days I hope that piano can be moved to the living room. Unfortunately, though, I'm sure Papa Sergio will be long gone. 

But for now, here you can see the improvements I made to the first floor. A second floor will have to be added soon, as the kids are quickly going to need more room for all of their stuff.

L-R: Sebastian, Alyson (next heir), Ella, Sergio, and Amelia

I promised you a family photo, and this is the best I could achieve. These people are totally uncooperative and clearly camera shy. Only Sebastian seems to want to stare at the camera. Too bad there's not an acting career--I bet he'd be a shoo-in.

Yes, I sprang that on you really fast, huh? Alyson caught her a man really fast. His name is Quentin Hagan. He's a Romantic Snob with a Painter aspiration. He is actually in Alyson's study group and they hit it off really quickly. 

They quickly became Boyfriend and Girlfriend, and they became quite besotted. 

Alyson and Quentin exchanged Promise rings, and as you can see, Mom Ella is looking on and has no qualms about Alyson's choice to take on the family line.

Speaking of Ella, neither she nor Sergio have sprung any desire to have further children at this point. Sergio is literally moments from going elder, but Alyson is still several days behind him, as he was an Adult when they married. As I've mentioned in the past, my rule is that I control the neighborhood population by only allowing my sims to have children when they spin the want. It helps with my already bloated neighborhoods.

Speaking of Sergio, he got himself another promotion. Yay! Means my second floor is coming right up in 5, 4, 3, 2 ....


See this? This is Quentin moving in. Since he's an NPC and he is not living in any neighborhood, I decided to move him into the household while he's still a teen, so that when Alyson ages up, he can age up with her and they can get married at that point. There are no rules in the Legacy Challenge that speak against it, so I figured this would be the easiest way to get him into the home and allow everything to transition smoothly.

And now it's time for the second floor. Unfortunately, there's not enough money in the funds to do much more than build the second floor and add doors to the rooms. Beds will be moved up there, as well as a shower, but that will be all that I'll be allowed to do financially.

The room setup is (l-r) Alyson and Amelia, Quentin, and Sebastian. The last room on the far right will eventually be a master suite for Alyson and Quentin. Sergio and Ella will remain downstairs in the in-law suite.

Right after Quentin's moving in, Amelia aged up to Teen. Remember my talking about Evil being my worst nightmare to roll for my sims? Well, Amelia rolled the Chief of Mischief Aspiration. Glorious. I really have no desire to cause mayhem in my legacy house, but if Amelia really wants to be a dastardly individual, I won't stop her. But I'm not going to encourage it either.

Meh. At least she's not Evil.

 






























 Poor girl aged up quite unfortunate looking. The dress is not a fit for her personality, and the bluish black hair totally washes her out. So, I sent her on for a makeover. The After photo is much better.

Three days later, it was Alyson's turn. Which meant it was Quentin's turn, too. They used the same cake. Yeah, we're cheap like that in this legacy house.

Alyson looks like she's ready for her turn as legacy matriarch. Good luck, girlfriend. Good luck.

Thankfully, her Young Adult trait rolled as Family Oriented, which is good. I'm glad she doesn't hate children, because we kinda need children to keep this thing going. *ahem*

I purchased "Entrepreneurial" from the Rewards Store, and I hope that doesn't break the rules. I didn't read anything that led me to believe that it was wrong to do so. I stay away from the Rewards that reduce their bills, give them money, etc. Entrepreneurial gives them promotions faster, but I figure it's all going to come out in the wash--they only get so many promotions, so I figure it's not that big of a deal. She's not going to go to work right away right now anyway--I'm going to wait till Papa Sergio is gone first, then I'll put her into the Cooking field since she already has a garden.

Quentin rolled the trait Jealous for his Young Adult aging. That one annoys me, but I can deal with it.

He's a Painter like his mother-in-law, so there will be a nice, steady stream of income coming in when Sergio and Ella are passed.

That's all for Ella's generation. At this point, Sergio and Ella will continue to live in the downstairs suite and continue working like always, but my major focus will be on Quentin and Alyson. By the way, Quentin took on the Matthews name since Alyson technically is the Matriarch and heir to the family.

Check back in a few days for Alyson's taking over the challenge!

Ella Matthews Legacy Challenge G1E4

If you're new to the Ella Matthews Legacy, you can go {here} to begin reading with Episode 1!

After the birth of Baby Amelia in the {last episode}, the family continued on as usual. 

Sergio is almost an elder now, and Ella is inching closer to adult status. Little Alyson is about to become a teen.

Literally the next day after having Amelia, Ella spun the want to have a baby. Are you kidding me?! Oh my goodness. I've never had sims want to have kids like this back to back to back. They're wearing me out, and they really have no idea how nervous they're making me with their finances.

But I relented and allowed her to have her wish. She woke up in the middle of the night, woke Sergio too. The two of them have been exhausted with trying to keep up with their jobs, take care of baby Amelia and pay the bills.

Sergio, ever the charming, has had no qualms about being wakened. Bless him.

These four are living in a cramped home. They obviously need some more space. I'm going to try to give them a basement where she can put her easels (she has two now, thanks to her career advance unlocking a spiffy easel). Now maybe her friend Ulrike will stop reading 5,000 books and leaving them all over the floor! Ulrike never ceases to annoy me.

Another couple of days passed (sorry I didn't get pictures--this has been an insane week and I've only played hit and miss). Amelia became a child, and Ella is about to pop. In fact, she went into labor in this photo as you see.

Sergio is getting some skilling finished before the baby comes.

Let me take a moment to brag on these two. I work them to the BONE but they seem to always want to talk and interact with their kids. They're a pretty phenomenal team.

Yes, Ella. I'm not joking this time.

Keep eating your yogurt. Ahem.

Literally moments later, she had to go to the bathroom and then it was go time.

She cracks me up with her facial expressions when she's in labor. She really makes childbirth look quite frightening.

This is baby number three, Ella. Are we done now? You look like you're considering wrapping up your childbearing.

She had a boy this time! Baby Sebastian it is. Thanks, Kristin, for the name! 

Kiddo has his daddy's eye color--brown. So far Alyson is the only one with her mama's blue eyes. I guess the heir will keep the blue eye genes in the pool.

Sebastian looks pleasant, doesn't he? I like his little monkey jumper.

Let's hope his personality traits spin nicely and he doesn't become evil or something. I hate that.

Ella, sweetie, you did good. He's a cutie! A great last baby, eh? What? Don't tell me....

Two days after Sebastian's birth, the two of them had enough money ($5k) that I was able to do a little expanding. The basement was started, and furnished sparingly. But now they have more room to move around and more room when their club company comes over. Alyson's study group has six members (including herself and her sister), so the house gets feeling cramped quickly. I threw in a third bathroom, because they're a family of five now. Since Ella is still a young adult (though barely), she may have quite a bit more time to have some more kids.

This just happened. Golly gee, girlfriend. It just seems like yesterday you were born. Sniff. Soon enough you'll be taking over the reins and having your own kids.

She randomly rolled {like I've said before, I use this trait randomizer} Freelance Botanist. Not the worst trait, but not my favorite either. Gardening takes a lot of time, and I hate having to do it with a Legacy Heir.

I sent her right away to gather seeds. Wouldn't you know it--the tomato plant cannot be harvested. Isn't that glorious? Sigh.

This sweet girl needs a makeover so badly. I hadn't noticed her shoes until now. Her shorts are quite hideous too.

Oh well--first things first. We'll worry about your lack of style when we have more time, Alyson.

She gathered quite a bit of loot and headed home. It was almost 11PM by this point, so I sent her home.

Tomorrow, she'll plant!

I got her home and made sure she got her shower and ate some yogurt. Then she headed to the mirror for a little quick makeover.

I didn't change her hair. It seemed to go with her gardening trait, and seemed to fit her personality, so I just went with it.

Her outfit and shoes though had to go.

The after shot is much better.

This little dude just grew right up! Thankfully, his traits weren't disastrous. I was so afraid he'd wind up with Evil or something just as hideous.

He's Lazy, but that's not too awfully bad of a trait to get stuck with. Maybe he'll luck out with something better next time.

Like Genius. Hehehe

I mentioned when he was born that he was born with his dad's eyes, and he definitely was. But what I wasn't expecting was that blond hair! I couldn't tell really when he was a baby, because their eyebrows often look the same. So the blond really surprised me.

Cool dispersion of the gene pool! He's kind of rough looking though. I'll be anxious to see what he looks like when he's a teen.

So far, so good, with these kids. No one has been a complete disaster yet.

Remember how I told you that they have a houseful when the Study club comes by? Here's what I mean. The living room and kitchen are combined into one small space, and all of those people in one room make me feel anxious!

And there's Ella right in the middle of it, eating her yogurt. See that thought bubble she has? Yup. She's trying to drown out all the noise and focus on her yogurt. I get you, Ella. *thumbs up*

The next day Ella and Sergio both got promotions.

Sergio's promotion meant that he had to choose whether he was going to choose Musician or Comedian. He's a musician, so that was obvious. But now that meant I had to buy them a piano. Wah-wah-wah. That hurt. I've been saving up their money to buy a build-on to the house, but that ate into the budget, big time. Not to mention I wanted to spruce up Alyson's garden a bit, which I eventually did. (See below.)



After two sim days, I had enough money to build a fence all the way around Alyson's garden and build on to the house. Here's the result:

The little property is coming along. It has no sprucing up outdoors. We've got several generations who can be working on that. For now, it's about survival and having space for all of the people living there.

Stick around for the next episode of Ella's Legacy Challenge.
I'll be finally getting a family portrait and we'll see if
Ella and Sergio decide more kids are in the plans!