The Greenman / Picaso Family: Week 4

The week at the Greenman-Picaso-household begins with Matthew, ex-husband of Jessica and father of the oldest of her three children, walking by the house early on Monday morning. By the looks of him he could very well be wondering whether he was out of his mind when he left them in order to be with his three-bolt love Alexandra O'Mackey.

Gary Greenman, Jessica's second husband and father of her second set of twin boys, politely stays in the background when he sees Matthew walking past.

The week begins properly when everybody else gets up. Good morning, Placido!

Upstairs, a heavily pregnant Jessica makes sure her (so far) only daughter, Paola, gets up and dressed in time for school.

What with two teenagers, one school-aged girl, two toddlers and a sixth child on its way, nobody really has time to train Jack, the dog.

Monday afternoon, Myra Moonbeam (daughter of Blossom Moonbeam and Erik Swain) comes home from school with the boys.

Jessica has just managed to teach Prezioso how to walk.

Paola returns from school two hours later than her older brothers. She is accompanied by Wilma Williamson.

When Wilma leaves after a while, Paola amuses herself in the yard.

Pablo learns how to walk from his older brother, Pierre.

At 11.30 at night, Jessica gives birth to...

...Glenda Greenman, her sixth (and last!) child and second daughter. By the way, although the background looks like a bathroom and many births (and deaths!) happen in bathrooms with our Sims, this is actually one part of the kitchen you are looking at.

On Tuesday, Paola brings home not only her first A+...

...but also Charlie Cho, son of Etsu Cho and Hal Capp.

Placido has taken to playing with Jack when he has no other tasks.

Paola seems to be rather popular at school; every day, another class mate comes home with her. On Wednesday, it is Martina Martin, who makes the skunk's acquaintance (and leaves immediately afterwards - I wonder what Jacob Martin, her father, thought when she came home all smelly!).

A familiar sight for all of you who have ever played a busy family in the Sims!

But thankfully, Jessica can share the workload not only with her husband, but also with her two oldest sons. Especially Pierre, who is a Family Sim like his mum and stepdad, loves taking care of his baby sister Glenda.

Placido and Paoloa are playing outside.

So often, Thursdays turn out to be the most eventful days of a Sim-week, and this is no exception: First, Glenda grows into a toddler, helped along by Gary, her dad.

At the same time, Prezioso grows from toddler to child...

...followed moments later by his twin brother, Pablo. Now Jessica and Gary can take a deep breath: instead of THREE, there is now only one toddler in the house. But sleeping arrangements need to be changed; where are the big beds for Prezioso and Pablo going to go?

The easiest solution is: nowhere, because they'll have the room formerly occupied by their two big brothers. First Placido leaves for college...

...and then Pierre. They would actually have several more days of teenage-time left, but this is the best option, I think. We are going to meet Pierre and Placido again when we reach the letter "P" on the alphabetical list - or whenever it is the next student's turn to be played.

Jessica now has more time on her hands than she has ever had since she was a teenager herself. She makes good use of it by learning everything about fire safety. Not a bad idea with fires happening so frequently in New Maximiliania!

Paola misses her two older brothers, but she is happy that her younger brothers are now old enough to play with her properly.

Jessica and Gary make sure the two younger boys do their homework just as diligently as Paola.

Pablo and Prezioso like to play outside, too.

But when it gets dark, they come inside. (They did this on their own accord, and I really liked it!)

On Saturday, the three of them are allowed to watch a movie together. Afterwards, they still sit and talk. "You'll grow up tomorrow, and then you won't want to play with us anymore," Pablo fears.

"Yeah, you'll be a teenager and start looking for a boyfriend, and then you'll get engaged and married and move away," Prezioso joins in. "You can't know that," Paola says, "and no matter what, we'll always be family!"

On Sunday, it is not only Paola's birthday, but also Christmas. The children are happy to discover that their parents have put up a tree for them.

They spend much of the morning playing.

In the early afternoon, their relatives arrive: Gerlinde and Lavender Greenman...

...Rose Greenman and her son Gordon, daughter Gerda and husband Jason. Daisy, Rose and Jason's eldest daughter and married to Gilbert Jacquet, couldn't make it. They are all Gary's relatives; Jessica does not have any family living in New Max.

But Paola is happy to see that her Dad, Matthew Picaso, has not forgotten her birthday.

She blows out the candles on her birthday cake...

...and joins the others around the table. (Sorry - I was so sure I had taken a picture of Paola right after her age transition, but I must have forgotten to actually hit "C"!) Paola's aspiration was determined by lot: she is a Family Sim, just like her mother and stepdad, and brother Pierre. I played until about half an hour into Monday of the following week, but her LTW still did not show up.

Even though Paola is now a teenager, she is not too old yet to still believe in Santa, and she is as happy as her younger siblings when he appears. Let's end the week with this picture. I really loved playing this family; it took a bit longer than other households, because I could hardly play on fast forward, with the needs of so many Sims to consider. I am looking forward to coming here again when it is time for "P" as in "Picaso"!