Hi Mum it's Sammy (clone 59 - part 13)

Our little munchkin just isn't getting the hang of the whole talking thing.

Well, at least she gives her daddy full attention. Donna never wanted to pay any attention to me. And Charlie wasn't much better.

Charlie was laying on the charm for Tulip Tomasi. I wonder if Charlie had any idea that his meeting with Tulip was going to be in the news? With her celebrity parents, she's as much a target for paparazzi  as they are. Especially any whiff of a relationship.

With a lot of charm and some nice flowers, Charlie did convince Tulip to be his prom date. I believe "Don't embarrass me" came up as part of the conversation.

Little Donna loves painting. She'll head for the easel when first home from school and stay there all night if we let her.

She shows a lot of imagination in her drawings. I've never seen anything around here that even slightly looked like that. That painting and her imaginary friend as well. You'd swear we had a fourth child in the household.

Sunny discovered the mischief the boy set up before he left this morning. He rigged the sink and his mother got a very unwelcome second shower for the day.

"Charlie Grant!"

"He's not home yet, dear."

"You will have a talk to that son of yours when he does get home?"

"Yes dear. But I'm not sure it's going to do much good. Not at his age."

So what does my Sunny do to make herself feel better?

Play guitar, that's what my Sunny always does to make herself feel better. I wonder if she'd notice if I talk to Charlie or not? Hmm, better not risk it. Sunny will go into hysterics if I don't.

While poor Sunny found herself soaking wet, I was taking care of the baby.

I adore toddlers. Their big smiles, how everything is a new exciting adventure for them. But I don't think I'm going to convince Sunny that we should have another baby. She's put off her career for long enough. It's going to be a sad day when Merry is old enough for school.

It was getting late for our youngest two. I went to find Donna to get her ready for bed.

"Donna, it's bedtime for you."

"But Daddy, Charlie isn't going to bed now."

"Charlie is older. You need your sleep young lady."

"Would you read me a story?"

"Of course, sweetheart. Which story?"

"Simblelina, please." She gave me a hug.

"Simblelina was the tiniest Sim you've ever seen. She was so small that she could live in a dollhouse very comfortably."

"She was sleeping in the doll bed when the most horrible thing happened. A huge thing that was like a hand but 100 times bigger snatched her out of bed."

"'Oh nom nom,' said the monster. 'Dolly taste good.'"

"Poor Simblelina was covered in monster drool."

Try as she might, Donna can't listen to the whole story in one night. A few pages into the story and she's fast asleep.

Merry loves that weird toy of hers. If we let her, she'd do nothing else all the time.

"And then the terrible claw came out of the swamp. It came to ..." Poor Sunny was half asleep.

"It came to..."

"Tickle Merry and put her to bed before Mommy falls down."

Donna was tucked in for the night and Mia was tending to Merry. It was time to consider making a late supper.

The spaghetti sauce is coming together. Just a little more of something. I threw in a few more herbs and set the sauce to simmer.

While it was simmering slowly, I had a chat to Charlie.

"Boy, the sink."

"Sink? Which sink? What about it?"

"Don't play dumb, the sink you rigged earlier today. Your mother was caught and was seriously not amused."

"But Dad, it wasn't m..."

"Hold it right there, boy. You try and duck this and your arse is grounded for a month. Now what were you about to say?"

"Umm, that you were the target?"

"Right. Still, you obviously have too much time and too much energy. I want to see you enrol for some after school activities and for tonight, go hit the bench press. A good workout should get your mind off pranks."

"Yes, sir."

"Do not prank your mother. Next time there will be serious consequences."

So Charlie spent some time on the bench press. A bit of a workout won't do him any harm and Sunny will be happy that Charlie found pranks can have consequences.

"This little lamb has one flower."

"This little lamb has two apples."

"This little lamb has three raspberries."

The book is called "Counting Lambs" I wonder what a lamb is anyway?

I decided to take a few extra days off work. Sunny is about ready to go stir crazy and I need some time away. Some extra time with Merry, she is such an adorable munchkin.

While I was toddler wrangling, the rest of the family was gathered around the table. Apparently neither of the kids managed to finish their homework last night.

"Come on Merry. Come to daddy. You can do it."

One wobbly step at a time, but she's finally got the hang of it.

After Merry had walking down, it was time for another session of trying to get Merry to use a few normal words with her normal toddler chatter.

It took time and a lot of patience but we got there. Finally.

"Then the terrible claw came just to ..."

"Tickle Merry."

My claw technique has just never quite been as good as Sunny's. The babies always react more to hers.

"And now, I'm gonna getcha nose. I'm gonna bop Merry on the nose. What do you think of that?"

That's better. She's much happier now.

It was prom night and up to now Charlie has been acting like he could care less about the entire idea. That lasted up to this afternoon, when suddenly there was a frenzy of activity. Buy flowers or not. Was his formal outfit ok.

Eventually, Tulip arrived and it was show time.

Charlie changed into his formals, dressed to kill.

It's amazing how different his hair is slicked back for a change.

The Tomasi's had rented a limo for the night. Nothing is too good for their youngest.

"So Charlie, nice picture of you and Tulip at the prom. How did it go?"

"It was fuc..."

"Language, Charlie."

"It was awesome, Dad. I was crowned King of the Prom. The chaperones weren't keen on my speech though."

"Why?"

"I might have suggested pranking the school was a good idea."

"Anything else I should know about?"

"Tulip and I had such a blast together. We kissed and then we decided to go steady."

Our son is old enough to go steady. God, that makes me feel old.

"And this little Simmy went to market.
And this little Simmy stayed home.
And this little..."

The wailing from the crib got louder.

"Oh, Merry, please stop crying."

I've been trying to get Merry to sleep for some time but she's just too tired. Reading isn't working so I'll trying turning off the lights and shutting the door. That might get her to sleep.

Unfortunately, I was wrong. Merry woke the entire house with her screams.

Sunny sang to her for a few minutes and the baby was asleep. It was a good thing too. Charlie and Donna have school tomorrow, and Sunny has work.

Well, Mum, Amelia and I both 'celebrated' birthdays. We tried to keep it fairly quiet, reaching middle age is not one of those things that makes you really happy.

We ended our celebration with a visit to the tree house. We both felt a bit better after that.

Before either of us was really ready, it was time for Merry's birthday.

"No, no. I can't be that old. I have a teen and two school age children. It can't be true." Sunny was not happy to have another reminder that time is flying past.

As for Merry, she's growing up to be quite the beauty. When she's not choking herself on food that is.

Our girls decided to play hopscotch together. Merry seems to be a bit of a natural. Donna is like Charlie, rarely able to get past the first stone or two.

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Bonus pics - This is much bigger than usual - pics I liked that just didn't fit.

Chrysame's Macy Monroe has a little boy with Moe Pesce.

Jacob Tomasi and new wife

Thomas Leman Tomasi had been in the park listening to Amelia. When Marta Tomasi arrived later, she made a beeline for her husband and they danced a storm. I love it when couples connect with each other at random community lots. It's so sweet.

So it's their daughter Tulip that Charlie took to the prom.

Other people use Simselfs of people they interact a lot with. Me? I pick on Twallan's simself Nathaniel Raas. He cannot summon the power of Twallan mods to save himself. :)

Sam reading to Donna

Tuck in time - so freaking sweet.

Poor Mia really had gotten drenched by the exploding sink.

Donna, stop hitting yourself with a pillow

Oh wait, it's Hester that hits you. :)

Mia went out to lunch and found her brother Travis with his daughter Ruby. What a great name for a red head child. Ruby looks like Travis and Sophie have good genes together.

Merry spent way too long cross eyed.

Hi Mum it's Sammy (clone 59 - part 12)

Charlie woke up in a bit of a mood. Teenage hormones kicking in, I fear. He was stomping around, slamming doors and grumbling a lot.

Finally to the relief of everyone else, Charlie decided to use the water slide for awhile.  I had an idea for an even better way to distract him from his mood.

"Hey Charlie."

"Yeah, Dad?" The lack of enthusiasm in his voice was very perceptible.

"How would you like a driving lesson?"

Charlie's eyes lit up instantly. "Nice one Dad, that sounds great. And then I can borrow the car, right?" Now there was the enthusiasm I was hoping for.

"Maybe Charlie, first you have to learn to handle it."

"It's a piece of cake."

"Wait till you've tried it, boy."

Donna seems to spend a lot of time talking to herself. She's been telling me about her new imaginary friend and all the fun they have.

It's a bit of a worry. I hope she makes real friends at school.

"Now Charlie, today we're just going to drive around the block a few times."

"Dad!"

"Seriously Charlie. You have to stay on quiet streets until you get the hang of the pedals and steering. Now start applying pressure to the accelerator." The tires squealed in protest as the engine revved.

"Slowly Charlie!"

"Sorry Dad."

"Now brake." The car came to a screaming halt and we both bounced against the seat belts. "Don't stomp on the pedals, Charlie. Firm pressure but not hard."

This was going to be a long lesson.

While I was busy with Charlie, Sunny was tending to Merry. Two of the prettiest girls in town. Of course, all three pretty girls live in my house, it's just that Donna was outside.

Hard to believe how fast Merry is growing.

We had to stop the driving lesson after an hour. It was stressing Charlie out and I had a ceremony to attend.

I had been invited to city hall to celebrate my career as a Fire Fighter. A presentation by the mayor and everything.

I'd actually forgotten about the ceremony. With everything that's been happening lately, it had been completely pushed out of my mind. I received a text message that the ceremony was due to start in 10 minutes that reminded me.

Fortunately I wasn't far from city hall when the message came, so I made it with a few minutes to spare.

There was even a small group waiting for the ceremony. A few of them were people I had rescued in the past. Others were interested bystanders and a coworker.

One of them even made a sign for the occasion. That's was pretty thoughtful of them. Or it shows that there simply isn't enough to do in this town.

"Sam Grant, would you please step forward?" The mayor had arrived and it was time.

"First, on behalf of the people of Barnacle Bay, I'd like to award you with this Medal of Valor." The mayor made a small down gesture. I bowed and he placed a ribbon around my neck.

"Sam Grant, in honour of all the services you have given to this fine city; for saving the lives of citizens, for the protection of property, both personal and commercial. You have seen us through earthquakes and near catastrophes with two important civic buildings." An assistant handed the mayor a box and stepped aside.

"In recognition of all that you have done, I am pleased to present you with this Key to the City."

"Thank you Mr Mayor. It's gratifying to know that the fire fighters work is appreciated."

"Make sure you smile for the camera," the mayor quietly commented to me. "This will be in the paper tomorrow."

He grabbed my hand in a firm shake as we both smiled for the camera. 

The ceremony was over, so I turned my attention to the people who came to watch.

"Mr Grant?"

"Yes Ms?"

"I'm Macy Monroe. I wanted to say how much I appreciated what you did for us."

Memory failed me, I don't remember any fires at a Monroe house. "Umm, when?"

"Sorry, I forgot that you don't know me. I work at the Science Lab. I wasn't there the day you were called in but I heard all about it for weeks after."

"How did Moe's samples hold up? I remember he was in a state about them."

"Everything was fine. You had it under control before any serious damage happened."

I'm still worried about Donna and that imaginary friend she talks about. Now she says her friend can do favours, like bring her food or clean stuff.

I'm really hoping that she grows out of this phase soon.

Charlie spent some time hanging in the sand pit thinking.

Then he went into our bathroom for a few minutes. We didn't really notice at the time.

Merry can't decide if the toy xylophone is for playing or for munching.

Poor Sunny still freaks out a little if she notices the baby eating toys. But Charlie and Donna both did it and survived the experience, I'm sure that Merry will too.

Charlie found out that the school prom is the middle of next week. He decided he better get acquainted with someone he can take to the prom.

He meet with Tulip Tomasi. I hope that's not over reaching himself. While Thomas and Marta are good people, they are rich and their children have had every possible advantage in life. Tulip could be a rich stuck up brat. She could be a really nice girl.

I know, that's not really my problem. It's Charlie's problem.

Donna's been practicing at the toy oven. It seems far safer than the chemistry set. She hasn't blown anything up yet.

"Merry."

"Merry."

"I'm sorry sweety but it's time to go inside. Can't have you getting chills."

"No mama. No wanna. No."

"Sweety, you have to go in."

Sunny has an advantage with this argument. She just picked Merry up and took her in. Merry stayed sulky for a few minutes but she got over it quickly enough.

Donna finished her first painting. I think it's quite good, but I would have to say that, wouldn't I?



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Bonus pics

Girls, walking in someone else's shoes is not meant to be so literal.

Poor Charlie - he was in the middle of having a teen party because the 'rents had a holiday. The game froze and on the second time, no holiday offered to them yet. So no teen party for the boy.