Week Three Part Four: Whitfill Ranch

Larita had a dream of seeing all her kids through college. To that end, she sent the three boys all off to Sim State while they were still teenagers--18, 17, and 16, to be precise. Jihoon, who was the youngest and who had always been particularly close to his mother, was reluctant to go, but Larita told him he'd do better with his older brothers to look after him and she'd be fine with the twins helping her out around the house.

So they hopped in the taxi, one by one.









































Sadly, Larita didn't live to see their college graduation. She died of a heart attack near the end of their sophomore year.

(I could have given Larita a shot of elixir to get her to the end of the week, but I decided that she'd already had more time than she really ought, what with the genie lamp and all. So I didn't try for the "CAS elder gets Lifetime Want" bonus.)




By then, the twins were legal adults, so they ordered their brothers back to college, reassuring them that they would handle everything back at the ranch.

The first thing they did with the life insurance settlement was order a tombstone for Larita and some trees and flowers for her grave.






Then the twins made some more frivolous purchases. The first was a new car...green, since that had always been Larita's favorite color.











Then the twins drove their new car into town and bought some new clothes--their first sets of new clothes ever; until then they'd subsisted on consignment shop finds.










After that they settled into a routine. They went to school, hung out for about an hour, went to their after school jobs, did their homework and worked on earning as many scholarships as possible so they could fulfill their mother's dream of all her children graduating from college.








They missed their mother and brothers most at night, so they happily continued to share a double bed rather than buying new singles.











They missed their brothers the most one night when a burglar broke into their house.

(Rishell and Veronia were furious at the burglar for DAYS. Seriously, they couldn't get a thing done without stomping their feet and thinking of him angrily.)







Fortunately, their security system altered the on-duty police officer, who arrived in time to catch the burglar and haul him off to her squad car. The twins decided that it wasn't necessary to call their brothers after all...they had enough to worry about with finals coming up.








This is what the downstairs looked like at the end of the week. Notice that the kitchen stuff is actually in the tiled area. There's a couch dividing the tile from the carpet (you probably can't see it from behind the stairs) and a new TV. Plus the bookcase is nicer than it used to be.








This is the upstairs, where we store stuff we don't need on a daily basis--the spare bed and the dresser.











This is the very boring exterior.

Week Two Part Four: Whitfill Ranch

It seemed like only a few days had passed before Blake turned 13. He was a very outgoing young fellow and said he wanted to charm the ladies when he grew up. Larita discouraged such talk. She was happy that Blake didn't let his aspirations get in the way of his obligations to his family. He studied hard and helped out plenty around the house, especially with fixing the very unreliable plumbing.





The other kids weren't far behind Blake; next thing Larita knew it was time for the twins' 13th birthday. Larita couldn't afford a party, but the kids seemed to enjoy the occasion anyway; a lady who happened to be walking by heard them singing "Happy Birthday" to Rishell and came over to congratulate her.

I decided to teach myself to use Picasa.
My first lesson: Text over photos.

Of course, the kids weren't the only ones getting older. Larita was beginning to feel her age. Sometimes she worried whether she'd live to see her kids grow up. Could five teenagers take care of each other if she was gone?

Then one day a gypsy woman came and gave Larita a magic lamp. Of course, Larita didn't really believe it was magic, but she was never opposed to free stuff.

Naturally, she was struck dumb when she rubbed the lamp (just to polish it up, you understand) and a genie popped out! He offered her three wishes, and she wished for peace of mind, riches, and a long life. The genie said that her wishes were all granted and left in a puff of smoke, leaving sacks of money in his wake.

The kids didn't believe the story Larita told about a genie; they figured her friend Mr. Riedmayer had left her some money and she was just getting a little weird in her old age. At any rate, they suddenly had enough money to build a small but comfortable house--with a kitchen! Being hungry teenagers, the kids liked that part best. They cooked all sorts of food the first 24 hours in their new house, starting with spaghetti.





The next day, they had omelettes for breakfast.













Then they had hamburgers for lunch.













Last of all, they cooked a whole turkey for dinner.













Of course, they did still sometimes indulge in their old standby of pre-baked cookies.












This is what the house looked like at the end of the week. On the left, a bedroom with a ballet barre and two easels. Larita and Jihoon slept there. (Let's pretend my Sims live in a culture where a woman sharing a bed with her [adopted] teenage son is normal. Double beds are a lot more cost-effective than singles.) Behind that is a tiled area (the someday kitchen) with two more beds; one for Blake and Donte and one for Veronica and Rishell. On the right is the common area, with a small kitchen, a battered sofa, a bookcase, and a chess table. There are also two bathrooms; that felt indulgent but it really is necessary in a house with six Sims. (I find 2-3 Sims per bathroom works nicely, though I've definitely done 8 sims in a one-bathroom house before.)

Week One Part Four: Whitfill Ranch

When Larita Whitfill went on an outing with her neighbor Rivka Dejackome, she never figured that she'd get a big ugly statue as a present from Elwood Riedmayer. But she did. It was worth 3000 Simoleons, just enough of a nest egg to impress a social worker, which suited Larita just fine.








The very first thing Larita did after she sold the statue was get on the phone with Sim City Social Services. Before too long she was all set to get an adoptive placement.











Larita used her own money to build an outhouse with a shower and buy an art easel. She figured that since she was going to adopt children it'd be better to have a stay-at-home career. She started on her first painting while she waited for the kids to come up from Sim City.









Blake was the oldest. He had dark skin, brown eyes, and red hair. Larita thought that was a funny combination, but she kept her opinion to herself. The boy was only nine, but he was already a little odd; insisted on going about all the time in an orange dragon suit and blue nightcap. Larita soon managed to convince him to wear clothes that were a little more normal.








Next oldest was Donte. He had brown hair, light brown skin, and the brightest blue eyes you ever saw. He was eight, and had already started wearing odd clothes like Blake. Fortunately in his case it was only the nightcap, and it was easy to tell him he ought to only wear that at night.








Jihoon was next. He was seven, with brown hair, light skin, and blue eyes, and seemed to not have the same weird dressing habits as the older boys. Larita would never admit it, but she took a particular liking to Jihoon the minute he stepped out of that van. He looked like a little farm boy in his flannel shirt and blue jeans. He did have a mighty unusual name, but Larita figured they'd all get used to it quick.







The twins were five. They were sisters to Blake; all three had been dumped at an orphanage when the twins were just babies. Veronica, who had gray eyes, said she was the older twin.










Rishell, the other twin, had brown eyes, which made it a little bit easier to tell them apart. It still wasn't easy; they moved fast and you couldn't see a kid's eyes when she was all the way on the other side of the yard.











Things were a little rough at first. Larita didn't have enough beds put together for everybody, so she became nocturnal--she'd sleep while the kids were at school, and then they'd take turns sleeping.











Although Larita didn't have the means to send her kids to private school, she made sure they got the best education she could give them. She was determined to put as many of them through college as possible. (Larita's lifetime want was "Graduate 3 Children From College.")








Eventually, Larita spent her nest egg making a very rough shelter for herself and the kids. From the front it looked pretty normal, but from the back it looked downright odd. None of them minded, though.









There was an enclosed bedroom and bathroom; then in the alcove they had two more beds, a mini-fridge, and a bookcase. When the weather got colder, they took turns sleeping in the enclosed bedroom so nobody got frostbite.









The Whitfills were (and are) one of my favorite families. Everything went even better than I could have expected with the adoptions. Going in, I was thinking I might have Larita adopt 7 children (the most she could have adopted, since you can only have 8 Sims on the lot), but after 5 it was just too exhausting to keep things going on the tiny bit of money she had, so I spent the nest egg. It felt like Larita was "done," anyway. Three boys were plenty to carry on the family name, and then the two girls had each other as playmates. (They did later become red hand buddies. Blake and Donte were each other's buddies, and Larita was Jihoon's.)

By the way, I made that stuff up about the kids all arriving at the same time and some of them being biologically related, because it suited the story. I adopted all 5 of them one day apart like one normally does in the Sims.

That's all for now. I'm actually about halfway through Week Four in gameplay, so look for more updates soon.

EDITED TO ADD: I felt I should note, just for statistics' sake, that Blake Whitfill is arguably the first member of Generation Two in Prosperity Plains. (The other contender is Millie Landgraab, whose birth will feature in my next blog post.)

Introducing the Whitfill Family

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated in any way with EA Games, nor am I being compensated for my efforts. I just like the game.

Note: I am going to be writing part of this "in character" and then part of it not in character. I will indicate that by differences in text color.

Larita grew up in a close-knit family and always figured that she'd have a few kids of her own someday, but she just never met a man who made her want to settle down. So she explored the world and had fun for a few decades. Then her brother and his whole family were killed in a house fire. Larita moved to Prosperity Plains with the idea that she could maybe adopt some kids...kids who need a family as much as she does now, with her family gone. Kids who can carry on the Whitfill name and the Whitfill way of looking out for each other.

Larita is a natural redhead, and in my mind she's a very fiesty, stubborn, opinionated person, though she's an Aquarius like a lot of my other Sims who I imagine as more laid-back. She's Family aspiration, though I don't remember what her lifetime want is. It's funny how both of my single women ended up Family.

Her name came whole from a random name generator too. I pronounce her first name Lah-ree-tah. She lives on the west side of town, right across the street from Rivka. Her lot is called Whitfill Ranch.