Welcome back to the Spice legacy, starring me, Cardamom Spice, my husband, my pets, and my 13 (!) children. Having 13 kids means a lot of time talking about toys and the like while we eat lunch. Living in the house with me are twins Fennel and Fenugreek, twins Bay and Basil, and singleton Chevril, who is still a baby and thus not in the picture. The older eight are all in college at the moment. Stephan and I are so proud of all our kids.

Basil is a studying maniac. He never seems to get tired, his fun bar never dips low, and he skills incredibly quickly. He’s far surpassed his twin sister and is gaining on the older twins. The other three, however, do not share his enthusiasm and prefer to spend time together or out on the beach. I never get tired of the view out there, and apparently Fenugreek doesn’t either!

I can hardly believe it, but my youngest child is turning into a toddler. I was so excited to see what he looks like, but judging that 9/12 children look mostly like Stephan, I knew I wouldn’t be surprised if he followed that trend.

And he did! Stephan’s mightily dominant genetics continue. It’s a good thing I like the way my husband looks and that he contributes to cute kids since I now have 10 of them with similar looks. Chevril is a little sweetie, moderately nice and neat, extremely shy and active, and somewhat serious.*

*6/0/9/4/6

Stephan took the lead in training Chevril. I think he felt that, since he worked through most of the kids’ childhood, he wanted to savor a bit of time with our final baby, and I couldn’t deny him that. Besides, I had taught so many skills to so many of the kids I could use a little time off. It was a bit strange not being pregnant and not having my needs be an urgent issue all the time.

That didn’t mean I could rest on my laurels, however. I was still the handiest one in the house, so it fell to me to fix the things that people broke. Having three bathrooms instead of just one like before made the breakages much less common, though.

Stephan and I were still so in love, even after all this time and 13 kids later. We had set out in our marriage with a goal in mind, and we had accomplished it. The only thing left was to raise them all to a state of independence and then see who would be succeeding us in the legacy. In the meantime, we made sure to spend plenty of our down time together to keep our love strong.

After many, many years of working only occasionally, I finally made it to the top of the artist career and became a visionary. It was rewarding to be recognized for my artistic talent, but my real desires and accomplishments were still all at home.

Fenugreek brought a little girl named Phoebe home several days in a row and they quickly made best friends. It seems like someone has a little crush! I love taking pics of the kids hugging, so when Phoebe and Fenugreek leaned in for a hug, I couldn’t resist!

Fenugreek and Fennel’s birthday came around. Unfortunately, Phoebe couldn’t stay for it, but the rest of us (except toddler Chevril, of course) were there to celebrate!

Even as teenagers, Fenugreek and Fennel looked amazingly alike. Fenugreek stated that he had rolled fortune/romance, and wanted to be a criminal mastermind. Oh my. I had hoped he might apply himself to something a bit more wholesome, but ultimately I just wanted him to be happy. Fennel was family/knowledge and wanted to graduate three children from college. I’m glad that some of my kids want to follow in my family-lovin’ footsteps.

The teenage twins made the customary calls to the college to collect their cash and call a cab.

And here they are at college! Looking good! Fenugreek is the spitting image of Stephan, except for my skin color.

Look who else moved to college! Phoebe is all grown up now, just like Fennel, and it didn’t take much for them to rekindle their puppy love into something more adult. Fennel became the first of my kids to have his first kiss. He was ecstatic that Phoebe had joined him.

That was exciting, for sure, but I still had two kids and a toddler to raise back home! We were a long way from thinking about engagements and marriages for all the kids!

Chevril’s birthday was the next day after Fennel and Fenugreek’s. We all gathered around to celebrate him.

Chevril also looks a lot like Stephan, but I think he has my chubby cheeks. They are very pinchable in my opinion! He’s a handsome little boy.

Even winter couldn’t stop my family from enjoying the beach. I’m so happy we were able to move sooner rather than later. We all really enjoy spending time on the sand, though for some reason I don’t seem to get out there very often. Maybe when I’m older and have fewer responsibilities.

Unsurprisingly, Basil finished his skilling way ahead of his sister, so she was stuck on the couch with Chevril while Basil got to play around. Bay and Chevril weren’t slow; they just weren’t little geniuses like Basil was.

Cat in the Hat finally grew up. He is a very simple, elegant kitty. I still miss Kitty Pryde often, but I’ve grown to love Cat in the Hat quite a bit too.

I picked up toy-making last chapter, and I’m still working on that quite a bit. I have more time now that all three of my remaining kids are in school during the day. Chevril needed help with his homework, but he did fine on it. It was time to get him and the older twins into the private school that all of their siblings had attended.

“Vince! So good to see you!”“And you, my good man! What is this? The third . . . maybe fourth time we’ve done this? I never get tired of your beautiful family.”“You’re too kind. Shall we go inside then?”

“Vince? I said, shall we go inside?”“. . .”“Do you want dinner first before the tour?”“. . .”“Do you want to schmooze a little first?”“. . .”“Um, well, I’ll just be inside when you’re ready . . .”

“Hey, mister, could you move? I forgot my snow boots and you’re kind of blocking the sidewalk.”“. . .”“Oh great, a glitched headmaster. Well, enjoy your frozen silence!”

*Ye gods, I hate this glitch and I seem to get it about every third time. This time around, the batbox nuked the scenario but Vince hung around, so I eventually just had to delete him. Grr.

Anyway, we didn’t get the kids into private school that night, but we had something else going on. I love birthdays, but I felt more than a little ambivalent about my own. Maybe I could have just a bit more elixir? But no, it was too late for that.

Even old, wrinkly, and slumping, I am still attractive to my wonderful husband. I picked out a fun floral tank top to wear at first, but I later changed it because some of the colors were awfully close to my skintone, and it looked like I had large, inappropriate cut-outs in my shirt.

There, that’s better. I finally gave up my braids for good and got a shorter cut. I think I’ve still got it, though.

I finally got my gold badge in toymaking and built the water toy I had been dreaming of the whole time I had been working. I hoped my kids (or their kids) would get a lot of enjoyment out of it once it was warm again.

Once I finished, the toy bench disappeared, the water wiggler appeared outside, and something I had been wanting on and off since I was in college appeared right before my eyes . . . a bass! I’ve said it before, but sometimes being a sim definitely has its benefits!

Stephan was going to join me in elderhood soon, but he still let me know that he found me attractive even when we were in different life stages.

With the kids in school and both of us having a day off from work, we had some free time. I decided to sunbathe, even though it was frigid out. I never had time for the beach, so I wanted to enjoy it! Stephan worked on finding maps for our future descendants. They would be going on vacations to find their spouses just like I had done, so a map would be handy.

*My sister was nearby when Cardamom autonomously sunbathed and I said, “Watch this. Bet you she’ll burn. They’re never smart enough to come in soon enough.”

So . . . I got a little sunburn. Not bad. Just, like, my entire body. Nothing a little aloe vera lotion can’t fix, I’m sure.

“What’s the word, Lord Snugglebottom? I should have worn sunscreen. Well, thanks. Now you tell me . . .”

“Vince! Good to see you . . . again. My older kids are getting close to being teens and my wife is crispy-fried. Don’t glitch this time, okay? I don’t know if I can handle much more.”“I’ll try, Stephan, but no promises.”

Luckily, Vince figured things out and all three of the kids got into private school.

“Gee, Bay, Chevril. Must suck to still be studying.”“Go away, Basil.”“Is that any way to treat your twin? Your intelligent, amazing twin?”“Ugh, seriously. Go play with the telescope. You know you want to.”“I will. And you know why? Because I’m all done studying! Ha ha ha.”“He is insufferable.”

Birthday time for my dear husband! Finally he and I will be elders together and can start wishing for grandkids and the like!

Here he is! Stephan’s hair got a little scruffy in the transition, but he still pretty much looks like himself.

Needless to say, I am still crazy-in-love with this guy!

“Gosh, Chevril, you must . . .”“Can it, Basil. I don’t want to hear your bragging.”“I’m going to go sulk now.”“As long as you do it quietly.”

Chevril and Bay had taken to playing together almost exclusively, leaving Basil out. I’m not sure why. Maybe they were having a disagreement when I wasn’t around. Anyway, don’t they all look sharp in their uniforms? I can’t believe we got 13 kids into private school!

Stephan and I had a lot of free time, being at the top of our careers and having the children in school. We tried to keep busy. I had gone through pottery, painting, and toymaking in my life. I needed a new hobby.

I found it with a single lemon tree and a small plot off to the side of the house. I never thought of myself as a very outdoorsy person, but I thought it’d be neat if I could join the local garden club and win that coveted wishing well. That seemed like a suitable pursuit for an elderly lady, and the wishing well would help the next generation if they needed friends or something. I was always trying to think of preparing for the next generation.

When I was done planting my tomatoes, it was time for Basil and Bay’s birthday. I couldn’t wait to see how they grew up, but I was sad that it would mean I only had one child left in the house.

They grew up looking great, of course. I mean, whose kids do you think these are? Amazingly, these twins that didn’t want to have much to do with each other as children rolled the same lifetime want: romance. Basil’s secondary was grilled cheese, and he appropriately wanted to be a celebrity chef. Bay’s secondary was family, and she wanted to graduate three children from college just like Fennel, who she had always looked up to as a kid, despite having different primary aspirations. I think Bay in particular really came out of her shell and looked great as a teen. She’s going to be fighting off the suitors at college!

“What’s the matter, Basil? Never studied how to use the phone?”“Shut up. I’m just gathering up my . . . concentration.”“Concentration? Not courage? For someone that knows everything, you’d think you’d be raring to go to college. Besides, we’re romance sims. We need to get out of here if we’re ever going to have a date.”“Hmm, you do have a point, my less-well-educated sister. Hello, operator?”

Here they are at college. The house was strangely quiet without their bickering, but I missed them nonetheless. They look great as young adults, but then so did all my kids.

With 12 kids in college and 1 in bed, Stephan and I ate our cake and quietly returned to our favorite subject. After a stimulating debate on the merits of various high heels, we decided to turn in too.

I worked hard in my garden to get it up to snuff. I was earning badges in gardening and my plants were thriving. I decided it was time to call up the garden club.

The garden club’s representative came over and evaluated the garden. She went around and looked at our trees, our spider grass, and of course, my garden. Shockingly, she found it acceptable, but . . . just acceptable. She welcomed me to the club but gave me just an average rating and no well.

I was a little disappointed because I had already put a lot of hard work into my garden. I wasn’t sure what she wanted. I decided I’d have to try a bit harder, and in the meantime, I comforted myself with the beautiful view from my back porch.

Chevril was always a bit reserved, except with Bay, so meal times and after-school hours were quieter than they had ever been since Rosemary had been the only one at home. We gave Chevril lots of attention, though.

“What do you think they want from me? I just want that well so badly, and I worked so hard on the garden.”“Maybe they want to see something besides tomatoes? Now that you have your gold badge, you could grow some other things, perhaps.”“What’s wrong with my tomatoes?”“Nothing, dear.”

I took Stephan’s advice to heart and expanded the garden. Maybe a greater variety of plants would interest the garden club more. I also made sure to talk to my plants and keep them well tended.

I invited the garden club member over again, but she said not enough time had passed for another evaluation. She also suggested that I try putting in some flower beds. I really, really wanted that well, so . . .

. . . I may have gone a bit overboard. I didn’t really want to care for 25 flower plots, but she didn’t have to know they’d be gone as soon as I had that well.

“No, no, no. Put that phone away. You don’t have to call the other garden club members. Just look at the magnificence of my flower garden and give me that well!”“Um, actually, I do have to call them. If you want the well, you have to play by the rules.”“Fine.”

I tossed down a few bushes around the flower garden before the other members showed up. They evaluated everything again. This time they did not find my garden lacking.

“Ah, tastes like success. Also, rust. But mostly success.”

“Thanks for the advice dear. A little variety really helped.”“Oh, your hands are rough. Did you spend a lot of time in the garden after they left?”“Well, yeah. I sure as heck am not watering 25 flower plots.”

Chevril continued to be a quiet boy. He spent a lot of time by himself, and he wasn’t a particularly quick study, so it was good that Basil wasn’t nearby to gloat about his lack of progress.

Finally it was time for Chevril’s birthday. My last baby was growing up! I could hardly believe it.

Chevril looked great as a teenager. He rolled romance/family just like his beloved sister, Bay, but he wanted to have 20 lovers like Coriander. Oh boy.

The last calls were made to the college for this generation.

And here’s my littlest one at college, only not so little anymore.

Stephan and I tried to enjoy the time by ourselves, but honestly, we could not wait until the house was filled up with grandkids. There was just one more thing to do before we chose an heir and passed responsibility on to him or her.

It had been a lifelong dream for both of us to have a golden anniversary. When I made that call, we both fulfilled that dream. However, from having so many kids and fulfilling wants, we had long been permaplatinum, so it wasn’t much of a change to our mood. Next, I wanted to max all my skills and Stephan wanted to graduate three kids from college, both of which were easily attainable in the next few years.

We decorated the house and waited for our guests to arrive. Stephan and I had been through a lot together, and now we got to celebrate that fact.

Our guests were, of course, our kids! We had a few non-family friends, but there was no one we would rather celebrate with than our own children, and they make up a party roster all on their own. On the left is Saffron, Chevril, Sage, Salt, and Basil. On the right, we have Rosemary, Peppermint, Pepper, Spearmint, Bay, Fenugreek, Coriander, and Fennel. I’m so proud of the wonderful young adults my kids have become and seeing them all together made my heart swell even more with pride.

For the older eight, this was their first time seeing the new house. Everyone got into the swing of things right away. The kids had never been exposed to dance much, so when Fenugreek started dancing, there were mixed reactions to his “original” style.

Amazingly, Basil and Chevril put aside the differences of their childhood and actually became best friends during the party! I guess it helped that Basil was having too much fun to tease anybody.

There was just a lot of socialization in general. Some of the kids grew up close together, but others were further apart in age, and this was a time for all of them to get to know each other.

Once the chatting was done, several more of the kids joined Fenugreek on the dance floor. None of them were particularly good, of course, but they were having a good time, which is what counts.

Fenugreek and Bay were actually momentarily in sync!

There were lots of friendings and best friendings going on at the party.

Stephan and I let the kids mingle, but we mostly stayed in the dining room chatting. Coriander came to join us, and we talked about the big decision that was coming up: who would be heir/ess to the legacy I started? Coriander asked, “What’s the big deal? Isn’t this all just a game? Right? We’re sims?”

“That’s true, Coriander – to a degree,” I answered. “But it is still a big deal. It’s a big responsibility, and it means accepting the process of growing old and leaving a legacy of your own. We’ve narrowed down the choices, and you should know you’re one of them, but it won’t be easy to decide. This is serious business.”

The party wound down with some of the kids out back talking about what they were learning in college. It had been a fun party, but it was almost over. I was thankful that the kids all got along and seemed to enjoy themselves. That was more important to me, and besides, Stephan and I had grown too old to party very hard anymore.

As everyone was packing up to leave, I pulled Coriander aside. He was the oldest of the three we had narrowed our choice down to, so I gave him the responsibility of taking my college portrait and Lady Fluffybutt and using them to re-establish Oresha Cham Cham. I tried to warn him about Lady Fluffybutt and her antics, but only time will tell whether he listened.

The party was a roof-raiser, and I was out in my garden pulling weeds when it ended. It was entirely successful. I had done everything I had wanted to do as an adult, including having 13 kids and having a golden anniversary party. Now I could settle into my elder years, max my skills, and look forward to 13 weddings and many grandchildren.

As for the kids, they returned to college and met briefly for a family photo on the future site of the newly reopened Oresha Cham Cham. Getting 13 sims in one picture is no easy feat! Not all of the kids will stay in college – most are eager to get on with their life – but the three that Stephan and I have picked as potential heirs will. Check the next pages to see who these three are, and then don’t forget to vote. The final slide will tell you where you can vote. I appreciate your help in deciding this – it was already so difficult to narrow it down when I love all my kids so much!

Our first choice is my little gender-swapped clone, Coriander. He was the first boy born in the legacy and has a very sweet heart. His aspiration is romance/pleasure and he wants to have 20 lovers. His personality is 6/4/10/4/8.

*Coriander’s main benefit is that he has the only aspiration I can finish in college. He also has the most of Cardamom’s genes, if you care for such things.

Spearmint is our next choice. As you may be noticing, we picked the kids that looked most like me, which conveniently was the same number Stephan wanted to send through college. Spearmint is a gentle sim that cares a lot about friends and family. Her aspiration is family/popularity and she wants to have a golden anniversary just like her mom and dad did. Her personality is 6/8/2/8/6, which kind of makes it a numerical palindrome. Not that that matters.*Spearmint’s benefit is her adorable face and carrying on Cardamom’s aspiration. She will NOT be having 10+ kids if chosen, however.

Our final choice is Bay, the last girl born in the legacy. Bay is not the quickest skiller, but she is very friendly and very beautiful. Her aspiration is romance/family, and her LTW is to graduate three kids from college. Her personality is 6/8/2/8/8.

*Bay’s benefit is being very beautiful mainly, and being quick to make friends.

Well, that’s the end of my segment of the legacy. The next time you hear from us, it’ll be one of my kids leading you through our life. Thanks for reading and for sharing the adventure of 13 kids with us!

*You can vote at:SiMania http://z12.invisionfree.com/sim_maniaBoolprop http://boolprop.netThanks for reading!