Keating Update

Hey simmers and welcome to another Keating update post. Another week has flown by and another Keating has celebrated a birthday. Henry became a teen this week and we officially have two insane sims in the household. I’m beginning to worry about the Keating genes. Henry celebrated his birthday at home with his family. Eleanor made him a white cake with white frosting and sprinkles, and lots of cookies.

Like I mentioned earlier, Henry received the insane trait, like his older brother Silas. So now they have something to bond over. And since he completed his childhood aspiration, Henry is also socially gifted. I find that funny considering he’s also a loner and gets the socially awkward moodlet almost anytime he’s in a conversation. His new aspiration is renaissance sim, like his father.

Since Henry will need to work in several different careers to complete the renaissance sim aspiration I’m thinking of having him do woodworking as his main form of income. For his birthday his parents bought him a computer (I want him to max the gaming skill) and a camera (to max the photography skill). Henry is also going to work on woodworking and logic. He certainly will be a jack of all trades and maybe a master of some.

In other news, the backyard is finally getting some love. I’ve updated the garden and added in a little area for a fire pit. I plan to put in a pool and and maybe and outdoor bar and some more seating. The outside of the guest house is completely finished. Next I’ll start working on the inside, but for now all my funds are going into the backyard. I realized I hadn’t shown you the guest house yet, so here are a few photos.

Margaret is going to age into a young adult in seven days, and she will be the first to live in the guest house. When Atticus ages up he will move into the guest house with Margaret. Having them still live at home for a bit gives me some time to establish their careers and work on their skills (and maybe romantic relationships) before sending them out into the world. When Wyatt (the third oldest) ages into a young adult, Margaret will move out on her own and Wyatt will move into the guest house. Likewise, when Silas ages into a young adult, Atticus will move out and Silas will take his place. And once Henry becomes a young adult he will take Wyatt’s place in the guest house. Lastly, when Amelia ages up, She will take Silas’ place. Henry will still around for a few extra days and then move out as well, leaving Amelia the sole occupant of the guest house. And once both parents die, she will move into the main house. I hope that wasn’t too technical. I just wanted to explain my thought process.

This week I made sure to take more photos of the family in their day-to-day lives. Eleanor caught a cowplant berry while fishing and of course I had her plant it in the garden. She has a lot of fun bonding with him while she’s gardening. Gunther also likes to feed the cowplant. Luckily no one has tried to take the cake yet.

I’ve also had E&G go jogging every morning because they were both getting out of shape. Eleanor packed on a lot of pounds because of all the pregnancies and Gunther spends so much time in front of his computer that it’s hard to find time to exercise. Luckily, they’re both a lot healthier now.

On the weekends, when they have more free time, I like to let the kids wander off and do their own thing. Here they all are, enjoying their weekend.

Amelia chatting with her cousin, Adrian.

Silas working on his DJ skills.

Atticus getting in an early morning workout.

Henry falling asleep while watching an especially boring movie.

Margaret practicing the violin and making everyone in the house cringe.

Wyatt working on a painting while admiring his growing collection.

Since they all got to enjoy some time alone this weekend, I had them all gather around the campfire and tell stories. Everyone seemed to have a really good time. They all love when Gunther tells a story.

That’s all for this week, simmers. Until next time, happy simming!

The Keating Heir

Hey simmers, and welcome to another Keating Legacy Challenge post. Since the eldest Keating child, Margaret, is going to be a young adult in just seven days, I decided to go ahead and determine the heir. I used an online random generator to determine who the heir would be. The Keating heir will live in the guest house (after becoming a young adult) and remain there until both Eleanor and Gunther have passed away. Are you ready guys?

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The Keating heir is…

That’s right, the youngest of the Keating children is the heir. I assumed it would be a boy because the girls are greatly outnumbered. I’m pretty happy that Amelia is going to take over when her mother dies. What makes it even more exciting is that she hasn’t aged into a teenager yet, so other than being the heir I don’t know what her future holds. Either way, she will be responsible for the family name and estate. Let’s hope she does a good job! Until next time, happy simming!

Happy Birthday, Silas!

 

Hey simmers! Silas Keating just celebrated his birthday and became a teenager! I worked until the very last minute to make sure Silas completed his childhood aspiration, social butterfly. As Eleanor was finishing up his cake he completed the very last task. It was very stressful and I was beginning to worry that he wouldn’t complete it. He would have been the first Keating child to not finish his aspiration before aging up, which adds to the humiliation of having the insane trait. I was really hoping that when Silas aged up he would receive a great trait and adult aspiration that would make up for his lackluster looks and insane trait. While he got the master mixologist trait–which sets him up for a promising career–he received the hates children trait. Poor Silas seems to be doomed to be the black sheep of the family.

My plan for Silas is to have him join the culinary career and become a master mixologist. And though he hates children, I’m really hoping that he’ll at least get married and try to enjoy the company of his future nieces and nephews. I haven’t decorated his room yet or chosen gifts for his parents to give him, but I think I want to get him a DJ booth and a dance floor so that he can pursue those skill lines as well as the mixology skill line.

That’s all for now, simmers! Until next time, happy simming!

 

Keating Family Update

I’ve lost track of what week I’m in with the Keating family, but this past week was a big one. Ever since the Keating’s got back from their Granite Falls vacation, I’ve been scrambling to help the younger kids complete their childhood aspirations because they all have birthdays coming up. Every child with the exception of the eldest, Margaret, had the Social Butterfly childhood aspiration so I’ve basically been performing the same tasks over and over again. It gets a bit old after a while, but I’m determined.

As you know, Atticus celebrated his birthday recently and his younger brother Wyatt just celebrated his as well, so now we have three teens in the house! Wyatt received The Curator aspiration and the creative trait. Any aspiration that involves collecting instantly makes me happy. I love or my sims to collect things and I’ve never completed on of those aspirations, so it should be fun. I set his room up with lots of shelves so that he could display his collections. And for his birthday his parents bought him an art easel and a cork board to store his postcards on. I’m thinking of having him earn a living as a painter once he’s an adult. Here are some photos from his party.

In other news, I started working on the guest houses that kids will move into once they’re young adults, before moving out for good. I plan to make two guest houses and I’m making them because I want the kids to have a sense of independence once they become adults but I would also still like to be able to control them until an heir is chosen. Margaret and Atticus will likely live in the first one and I’m not sure what will become of the second one, but it’s nice to have extra space.

Silas is going to celebrate his birthday in just a few days and I’m really looking forward to having another teen in the house. Especially because it seems like at least one child is waking up in the middle of the night, EVERY NIGHT, because of a monster under their bed. It’s super annoying and of course they try to wake up everyone in the house. I’m also annoyed at how frequently household items break but I don’t think I can get the mod that reduces breakage because that goes against one of the Legacy Challenge rules. Good thing Gunther is an excellent handyman! Until next time, happy simming!

 

Happy Birthday, Atticus!

It seems like the days of childhood are flying by for the Keating kids. Atticus Keating just celebrated his birthday on the heels of his big sister, Margaret’s birthday. The Keating family celebrated Atticus’ venture into his teenage years on their recent vacation to Granite Falls. When Atticus aged up he received the Bestselling Author aspiration, which comes with the muser trait, and the creative trait. Also, since Atticus completed the Social Butterfly aspiration, he earned the socially gifted trait.

Unfortunately my keyboard controls stopped working and I wasn’t able to take any photos of teenage Atticus and his birthday party, but you can click here to see a portrait of him. I still think Atticus is one of the cutest Keating kids and his appearance translated well into his teenage self. His aspiration makes me want to have him take after his father and become a writer, so that’s likely where his future headed. I like to make my writers choose a genre that they specialize in; Gunther is a nonfiction writer. Since Atticus is self-assured and socially gifted, I think it would be fitting for him to write motivational books. Atticus will be focusing on his writing skill, of course, but I would also like for him to max his charisma and athletic skills.

We now have two teenage sims in the house and that number is about to be three! Wyatt will be celebrating his birthday in just a few days and I’m super excited to see where his future is headed. Until next time, happy simming!

 

Keating Update

Hey simmers, long time no see! I’ve got a major update for you guys, so get comfy, this is going to be a long one. For starters, the Keating’s have welcome their last two children into the family; Henry and Amelia. They’re both cute kids, and of course, both received the Social Butterfly Childhood Aspiration. I don’t know if that’s a glitch in the generator or just a coincidence but I’m really annoyed that five out of six children have the same aspiration. Henry got the loner trait, and Amelia is a perfectionist.

In other big news, Margaret, the oldest of the Keating kids, recently celebrated her birthday. She’s officially a teenager! She received the genius trait and the Big Happy Family aspiration. I was hoping for a different aspiration, but I’m really happy about the genius trait. And since she finished her childhood aspiration (whiz kid), she is also mentally gifted. Here are some photos from her party.

I can’t be 100% sure, but I think she looks more like Gunther than Eleanor, though she does have Eleanor’s hair color and complexion. She had a zombie birthday cake and everyone in the family was invited. Gunther’s brother, Wolfgang, welcomed his second daughter with his wife Cynthia. I’m looking forward to having the family go over and meet her.

I haven’t taken many photos of Henry and Amelia, but you can catch a glimpse of them in the photos above. In the last photo, Henry is the one behind Margaret, int he blue shirt with stripes. Amelia is in the second photo. She’s the little girl with short dark hair in the blue outfit.

In some other, misc. news, the Keatings experienced a house fire. The living room rug caught fire, but luckily no one was harmed. All of the kids are doing great in school and Atticus (the second oldest) is getting ready to celebrate his birthday in a couple of days. Currently, the entire family is on vacation in Granite Falls, where they plan to host a birthday part for Atticus. In my opinion, he’s the cutest of all the Keating children and I’m really excited to see what his new aspiration and trait will be!

Since Margaret is a genius and mentally gifted, I’m thinking I’d like for her to be a doctor or a scientist. And of course, since her aspiration is to have a big happy family, I want her to have lots of children. I’m still not sure who the heir will be, since I have to roll for that, but I still want to make sure all of the children have full lives.

That’s all for now. I just started a brand new week and I’m looking forward to getting back on track with the update posts. Until next time, happy simming!

Quick Update

Hey simmers, just wanted to share some news with you before the week 10 update post. The Keating’s sold their restaurant, Le Bouchon. It was a big decision but it just felt right for the family.

The restaurant had been holding steady and doing very well for quite some time. It had reached five stars and was bringing in a decent amount of cash each day, but it was just becoming a hassle. E&G are about to welcome their fifth child (yep, Eleanor is pregnant again) and most of the house is still unfinished. Additionally it’s hard to spend time with your kids when head to manage a restaurant as soon as they return from school. Bottom line, I wanted E&G to be able to spend more time with their kids and for Gunther to focus more on his writing. Plus, I wanted to be free of the constant financial burden and the anxiety of an unfinished home as well as the stressful technicalities that come with living on a community lot, so we sold the restaurant for roughly 173,000 simoleons.

The Keating’s still live in the same house on the lot where the restaurant was. I simply changed the lot type back to residential, deleted the restaurant, and turned the house around. After deleted the restaurant, the lot was only worth 123,000 and the Keating’s had the 173,000 from the sale, so they had plenty of money to officially move onto the lot and quite a bit of simoleons leftover to furnish the empty rooms. There is still some work to do outside (landscaping, pool, guest houses, etc.) but the inside of the home is 100% finished with the exception of the unfilled children’s rooms, which will soon be filled!

Sorry this post wasn’t more interesting and didn’t include any photos, but don’t worry, you’ll get plenty of exciting stuff (and photos) in the week 10 update post. Until then, happy simming!

 

Birth Announcement

Hey there, simmers, baby number four has arrived! Though I was really hoping for a girl, Eleanor gave birth to a baby boy. We’ve still got two kids left, so that’s two more chances for a girl. Keep your fingers crossed! Anyway, meet Silas Keating!

I know this is awful, but I’m just gonna go ahead and say it: Silas is my least favorite child so far. For one, he looks kind of scary. You can see a photo of him by visiting the Keating bio page here. Two, he has the insane trait and he’s the third child to receive the Social Butterfly aspiration, which is my least favorite of all the childhood aspirations. Maybe I’ll get lucky and he’ll grow up to be one of my favorite sims, but if he’s truly as awful as I suspect him to be, I hope he isn’t chosen as the heir.

Eleanor isn’t pregnant again just yet, because I started typing this post almost immediately after Silas was born. But as soon as the family returns home I plan to have E&G try for a baby because let’s face it, they aren’t getting any younger. They’ll likely be aging up into elders when most of their children are teenagers, which is kind of sad, but that’s what I get for waiting so long to make them start having children.

Legacy Challenge: Week 9 Update

Hey simmers and welcome to another legacy challenge update. As you know from my last post, the Keating’s welcomed a third child and Eleanor is pregnant with her fourth. She should be giving birth anytime now and I’d really like another girl.

The kids have all been getting along so well and spending lots of time together. They also visited their aunt and uncle and got to meet their cousin, Adrian.

Next weekend I’d really like to take them to meet their grandmother, Gunther’s mom.

I didn’t really do an outline for this post like I usually do, so instead of rambling on forever, here are some photos from the week.

I can’t remember if I shared pictures of Atticus’ room or not, but you can see it in the bottom two photos as well at the top right. I also finished Wyatt’s room, which I think is the largest of all the kid’s rooms. Here it is.

Normally I like very neutral tones, but I really like bright colors and lots of patterns for kids rooms. I’ve basically been using furniture and decor from the Kid’s Room Stuff pack. I’m planning to put all of the bigger items (puppet show theater, Void Critter battle station, etc.) in the media/play/game room so that all the kids can share.

I just started week 10 and can’t wait to share all the exciting events with you!

Birth Announcement

Hey simmers, baby number three has arrived and it’s another boy. Meet Wyatt Keating.

When I aged Wyatt up into a child and rolled for his aspiration and trait, he receive the Social Butterfly aspiration and the hot-headed trait. He’s been angry quite a bit, but I think he copes well. He’s already best friends with both of his older siblings.

As soon as Eleanor gave birth she aged up into an adult, so I wasn’t able to throw her a party. I’m kind of happy it happened that way, though, because I likely would have forgotten to age her up before getting her pregnant again…which she is. She’s almost in her third trimester and should be giving birth in the next day or so. I’m crossing my fingers for a girl!