beanstalk_sims | Henstead Island: Winter with the Ottomas Family

After dabbling in multiple methods for posting updates from my neighbourhood, Henstead Island, I've decided LJ posts are probably my favourite. Posting picspam to tumblr is easier, but not as in depth as I like.

So here we are, winter with the Ottomas family! For Autumn, and the other families of Henstead Island, have a look at this index.

Last time, Sam added three more babies to the family - twins Ryan and Kelvin, and little Joanna. David left for uni, there were multiple birthdays, and Dora passed away.

We rejoin the family to find Sharla at the local park, looking for love!

She won't stop rolling wants for love and first kisses, so I thought I'd help her meet some teenage boys.

I can't, however, help her get along with them. Sharla has no nice points whatsoever.

Needless to say, the boys in the area were pretty scared of her.

Which is fine, because someone else showed up on the lot, and they were way more interesting - a witch!

I don't have any supernaturals on Henstead Island, and it's time I changed that!

Oh man, are we about to see a magical showdown?

"Mwhahaha! Storms!"

Sharla kept the good witch so busy that no one even noticed the shenanigans of the evil witch.

After giving up on the boyfriend hunt, Sharla headed home, where she bumped into a dude she brought home on the bus a couple of days back.

One bolt? He'll do, right?

ACR agreed with me, and Sharla scored her first kiss with George Danaher.

Unfortunately for him, she never rolled a want for him, so I guess that's where this little romance ends.

Sticking with the Sharla-centric theme, she gets to take Joanna, the youngest Ottomas, to the cake.

I'm refusing to let Sam and Peter add any more babies to this madness.

Well, there's no denying her heritage, is there?

Joanna has a personality of 10/2/8/6/10, and will be inheriting the Ottomas house when she's old enough.

The birthday fun didn't end there, though - with six kids comes multiple birthdays!

The twins are also turning into children this time. Sam is holding Kelvin, and Sharla's got Ryan.

And here they are, all grown up and madeover!

Their faces are pretty different so you should be able to tell them apart, but just in case, Ryan is in blue and Kelvin is in yellow. Or a weird green-y yellow. Not really sure how to label that colour.

The Ottomas family is dance-mad, and Priya Ramaswami has somehow escaped the sim bin to join in with it all.

With six kids comes all kinds of craziness.

To be fair, it's mostly smustling, but Ryan here thought he'd be different and try out the springs on all the new beds.

Sharla, however, rolled the want to gain some creativity points, and then just wouldn't stop rolling for it - so she gained enough to get a scholarship in it! I ended up giving her Knowledge secondary as a result.

As far as scholarships are concerned, all teenagers need three before I'll let them go to university. No idea why I chose that rule, but I'm sticking with it.

"Well, isn't this nice? A quiet breakfast together, a maid cleaning our house, our kids running off to school..."

"Are you as bored as I am?"

"Yes."

Peter and Sam then spent the afternoon romancing one another, only breaking so Peter could go to work, and earn the money for the hot tub he desperately wanted.

I swear, if I hadn't put Sam on birth control, there would be another Ottomas bun in the oven.

"LET'S ALL CROWD ONTO THE SAME PORCH!"

"What a great idea this is!"

Everybody stop and appreciate the fact I managed to get all of the kids to sit down together and eat.

This will probably never happen again!

"Look, Mum! An A+!"

"That's great, honey, go away now please!"

Sam and Peter should probably lock their door to avoid scarring their kids. It was David in the last rotation, and Ryan now.

Another evening, another batch of birthdays! First up is Tommy.

I chose his aspiration based on his want panel - he seemed to want to make friends, and so I've given him Popularity. I think he's one of the more conventionally attractive Ottomas kids - and I have no idea where he gets his nose from.

Of course, we have to have multiple birthdays, and Joanna is up next.

With so many sims to keep alive, I kind of forgot to show you her toddler years.

She looks a LOT like Ryan if you ask me.

I really like her, though! :)

Sharla invited over her favourite supernatural friend, who then spent all afternoon in the hot tub.

But, by cake time, she'd decided it was time to show Sharla the magic. Huzzah!

And so Sharla becomes a Nice Witch.

Which doesn't really go with her total lack of nice points, but I didn't realise that until MUCH later.

And with that, she's off to join David at college. Her scholarships were the SimCity Scholar's Grant, Tsang Footwork Award and the Quigley Visual Arts Grant.

Because of her interest in creativity, Sharla will be studying Art, rather than me waiting for her to choose a major.

So this leaves Tommy as the only teen at home. He's working on his body skill, as he keeps rolling wants for it, but turns out he's pretty good with the kids as well.

2 Wint 1_Ottomas