Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The Cory Family Season 8

S7 Cory 18.jpg

Cameron Sinclair—Adult male romance sim
Aquarius personality
Sloppy 4, Shy 4, Lazy 4, Fun 7, Nice 6
Lifetime want—become professional party guest—Achieved
Preferred hobby—Nature

Amanda Cory—Adult female popularity sim
Aries personality
Neat 5, Outgoing 8, Active 6, Serious 3, Grumpy 3
Lifetime want—have 20 simultaneous best friends—Achieved
Preferred hobby—Music and Dance

Matthew Cory— Teen male fortune sim
Aries personality
Neat 7, Outgoing 8, Active 8, Serious 3, Nice 10
Lifetime want—earn 100,000 simoleons
Preferred hobby—?

Rachel Cory—Toddler female sim
Aquarius personality
Neat 5, Shy 4, Active 6, Playful 7, Nice 6
Preferred hobby—Tinkering

Sandy Cory—Baby male sim

Check out the Cory and Sinclair Family Tree

In the last update—Amanda became pregnant with her fourth child while Rachel was still a newborn. Matthew became a teen and chose the fortune aspiration with a lifetime want of earning 100,000 simoleons, like his Uncle Gary. He also had Gary get him a teen job at a law office. Rachel became a toddler and started learning her skills. Amanda gave birth to a baby boy, Sandy. She also achieved her impossible want of 30 simultaneous best friends while Cameron worked on his career in the music industry.

Season 8—Summer

Amanda Cory came home from work to find Rachel starving and in a soiled diaper. From the evidence, it appeared that the nanny had given 5 bottles to Sandy, but hadn’t even taken Rachel out of her crib all day long. Furious, Amanda went to confront her.

The nanny picked Rachel up out of her crib. “I’m sorry, Ms. Cory. I didn’t notice that she had a dirty diaper. I was taking care of Sandy. Let me clean her up for you.”

“I don’t think so. I think you’ve done enough damage for today. You’re fired!” Amanda declared.

The nanny pleaded for her job, but Amanda wouldn’t hear it. What kind of nanny left a toddler in her crib without food or a diaper change for eight hours? Her job in the publishing industry and her friends had always been Amanda’s priority, but her babies really needed her. She hadn’t taken a day off from work her whole life, except for her forced pregnancy leaves. She had amassed a large number of vacation days. Maybe it was time for her to take a leave of absence from Cory Publishing. Alyssa’s husband Evan had been asking her for a job. She’d told him no, because she was saving the position for Matthew, but maybe she could let Evan run things until Matthew was ready.

“Don’t worry, baby, Momma’s going to be here for you now,” Amanda told Sandy as she checked on him.

Amanda realized that she’d missed most of Sandy being a baby. He was suddenly a toddler. That was the deciding factor. She was taking some time off from her publishing job to properly raise her children.

Sandy Cory—Toddler male sim
Sagittarius personality
Sloppy 4, Shy 4, Active 9, Playful 7, Grumpy 1

Cameron would have to work on encouraging his son to be nice. He couldn’t let his son continue to pick on all of the other toddlers. As much as Amanda wanted to help with this, she knew that Cameron was much better at encouraging the children.

In the mean time, Cameron was doing well in his career. He finally got the promotion he wanted and became a Rock God.

Everything was just right. Their family was happy and money was good. Cameron decided to take up gardening as a hobby. He loved nature and quickly earned himself a gold gardening badge and a wishing well. Of course, it helped that the garden club president was quite taken by Cameron.

Matthew was working very hard at being an overachiever. Maybe it was a recessive gene or something, because Matthew took after his Uncle Gary a lot. He was a perfectionist. He worked hard to bring home A+ grades. He was also putting an effort into earning scholarships for college, and he still had his job at the law firm. More than anything, he wished for money. He was going to reestablish the Corys as the richest family in town.


Amanda spent her first couple of days caring for her children without a nanny. She had missed so much working through Alyssa and Matthew’s childhoods. She loved her children and was going to make sure that Rachel and Sandy grew up well.

Before long it was time for Rachel’s fifth birthday. As always, Amanda threw a huge party. She was trying hard to be a better mother and more of a family sim, but she still loved parties.

Rachel became an adorable child. The party was great fun for the whole family. Rachel spent time bonding with her big sister, Alyssa. Matthew got to spend some time learning strategy and logic from his Uncle Gary.

One day, Cameron came into the dining room to find Amanda with fabric swatches and wedding books spread out in front of her. “What are you doing?” Cameron asked.

“Planning our wedding,” Amanda replied without even really looking up from the chiffon sample she was studying.

“What?” Cameron’s voice with filled with surprise. He and Amanda had been engaged since before Matthew was born. He was totally committed to Amanda, but a wedding seemed kind of silly now. They had three children together. It was a bit late for a wedding. He told her as much.

“Cameron Sinclair,” Amanda frowned at him. “You promised me sixteen years ago that you would marry me. I’m not letting you go back on that promise. I’ve dreamed of my wedding day since I was a little girl. I’m getting my dream wedding. The only reason we haven’t done this before was because it wasn’t a part of my dream to walk down the aisle pregnant or with a baby in my arms. This is the first chance we’ve had to do this right. You do still want to marry me don’t you?”

Cameron agreed. He couldn’t deny Amanda anything. If she wanted to finally have a wedding party, he’d let her. Since the day Matthew was born, he’d committed himself to doing right by his family. He didn’t mind getting married to make it official.

Well, Amanda still had a toddler on her hip, but she was finally getting her dream wedding.

Amanda wanted both of her daughters to have a role in the wedding. Rachel was logically the flower girl. It was highly unusual, but Amanda asked her eldest daughter Alyssa to be her matron of honor. Of course, it was odd for a daughter to already be married before her mother. All that mattered was that it was a happy family party. Amanda got some great pictures with her two beautiful daughters.

Cameron had a difficult time picking his best man. His brother Gary was a logical choice, but that just felt wrong to Cameron. They’d made up as adults and got along, but it still wasn’t that type of relationship. So he asked Matthew to do the honor. They’d truly make it a family affair. Cameron also asked his nephew Evan to stand beside him. They had a very close relationship, and having him with him just felt right.


Cameron noticed that Evan and Matthew were growing closer together. That was good. Cameron hoped that Matthew might learn to get over his perfectionist tendencies with some influence from his cousin.

Cameron’s nephew Eli was the right age to be the ring bearer. He was adorable walking down the aisle followed by Rachel as the flower girl. The cousins were just so cute standing together before they were allowed to take their seats.


The processional continued with Alyssa followed by Amanda. Amanda was so thrilled to finally be able to have her big wedding day. But it was more than just the party. She was making official the commitment she had with the love of her life.

At the end of the ceremony, Cameron dipped her and gave her a huge kiss. He was happy being a committed family sim now, but he still had a bit of the romance sim in him.

All of the Cory and Sinclair family posed for a formal portrait after the wedding. Not only were Amanda, Cameron, and their children there, but also Cameron’s brother Gary and his wife and children, too. Even little Sandy got to take part in this picture.

Evan was so moved by the sheer beauty of the ceremony that he had to go caress his wife. He supposed it wasn’t very manly, but weddings just moved him. He had to show his wife how much he loved her at every one he attended.

Amanda was very pleased with the perfect linens she’d picked for the cake table and the delicious looking cake. Cameron quickly reminded her that life had to have a little bit of unplanned surprises too when he shoved the cake at her face. She laughed. They were a good mix together.

Cameron asked Amanda to have a slow dance with him. Amanda was thrilled to show off her dancing ability. They both loved music and dancing.

Then the party really got started. Cameron danced with his daughter, who was really daddy’s little girl. That was a lot of fun.


Then Amanda noticed that her son had invited a girl as his date to the wedding. Matthew was dancing with a girl whom he was obviously quite taken with.

Amanda pulled Matthew aside. “Who is she?” Amanda asked full of excitement.

“Oh, Mom, she’s just a girl I met at school. I didn’t want to come to the wedding stag,” Matthew explained.

“Okay, but tell me about her. What’s she like?” Amanda pressed.

“Well, her name’s Anna. I think she’s a family sim. She’s kind of attractive.” Matthew blushed as he realized what he’d just told his mom. “I’m going back to dancing, Mom.”

Matthew also used the party to bond with his cousin, Ethan. They had a lot in common, too. In addition to their perfectionist drives, they both really liked sports and fitness.

At the end of the night Cameron brought his wife in close for a passionate kiss. The romance would never be dead between them. Of course, the teenagers were very grossed out.

The night ended with a fireworks display. Amanda Cory, no, now Amanda Cory Sinclair had to have every extravagant thing she could think of for her wedding.

After the wedding, life went on as normal. Finally being married did mean a lot to Amanda and Cameron, but they’d been living as a family since Matthew was born. They were a more traditional family, but beyond that, things were pretty much the same. Day to day life was household chores, homework, family meals, and naptimes.

One of Cameron’s favorite activities was taking his family fishing. He’d take Rachel and his nephew Eli out on fishing trips quite often. Rachel was becoming a bit of a daddy’s girl. Amanda tried to enroll her in ballet lessons, but she absolutely refused to go. Rachel liked tinkering, playing with her blocks, and being outdoors with her dad.

Cameron even got Matthew interested in nature, once he demonstrated how much money could be made gardening. When Matthew saw the simoleons rolling in, he was suddenly interested in becoming a master gardener.

Matthew was also officially dating Anna.


She seemed to really get him. She liked the finer things in life like dining at nice restaurants and slow dancing, but she also had the ability to get Matthew to relax some and tone down his driven personality just a little.

They were a good match. Anna really wanted to get married and have a family. Matthew liked the idea of having a family with Anna. He wanted money more than anything; he wanted everyone on the isle to envy how rich the Corys were, but he wanted heirs to pass his fortune to someday. And, Matthew knew that he wanted a traditional family. He loved his parents, but he wished that they had married properly before he was born. Matthew was certain that he would marry Anna someday, and they would make the Cory family and home amazing.

Time moved on, and just like that it was time for Sandy’s fifth birthday party.

Their children were growing older, but that meant that Amanda and Cameron were aging as well. Cameron’s hair was going gray. Amanda had an awful time trying to find decent clothes for herself anymore. It seemed everyone expected them to start acting like they were elders, even though they were only 55. But, they were aging. It couldn’t be denied anymore. Even the most expensive creams couldn’t get rid of all of Amanda’s wrinkles, and the Just for Men hair color just wasn’t working for Cameron anymore. It was time to accept that they were growing older, too.

They weren’t ready for the nursing home yet, though. They still went on dates and had time for romance.

Cameron spent some time encouraging Sandy to be nice, and it paid off. Sandy was soon a sweet child, who was affectionate to his family.

Sandy Cory—Child male sim
Sagittarius personality
Sloppy 4, Shy 4, Active 9, Playful 7, Nice 6

Rachel and Sandy became the best of friends. They were pretty much inseparable. Sandy taught Rachel how to throw a baseball like a boy, and they had fun having adventures together and whispering secrets behind their parent’s backs.


The whole family was very loving and affectionate to each other. They enjoyed spending time together

Cameron was happy to take both Rachel and Sandy fishing a lot. He got into the nature zone and earned Emerald Isle’s first hobby plaque. Cameron burst out laughing when he saw it.

“You’re kidding me. I’m the first in Emerald Isle to achieve something? Wait until Gary hears about this!”

Season Recap

1. Another very eventful round. Rachel transitioned to childhood. Sandy became a toddler and then a child in the same round. He’s active and playful. Another Sagittarius child for my hood. Cameron encouraged him to be nice, though.

2. Amanda and Cameron finally had their wedding day before they became elders. After reaching the top of his second career, Cameron is ready for retirement. But, Amanda has enough vacation days saved up that she can take a leave of absence for a while to focus on raising her children.

3. Matthew fell in love with a girl he brought home from school. Her name is Anna, and she’s a family sim.

4. Cameron has taken up nature as a hobby and got Emerald Isle’s first hobby plaque and a wishing well.

Points Recap

Previous non-money points 159

Top of Career, Cameron +1

Hobby plaque, Cameron +1

2 Gold badges, Cameron +1

New non-money points 162

New money total for this household to be added for neighborhood points 143,355 simoleons.

Author’s Notes

Letting Amanda and Cameron become elders was harder than I ever imagined. I looked forever for decent CC for elders. Hasn’t anyone ever heard of men coloring there hair? I had to pay for Amanda’s outfit. If you know of any good elder cc, please let me know.

I’m quite unhappy about Sandy being another Sagittarius, mean sim. I could have sworn I remembered to roll the dice to prevent the first born effect with him. Yet, there he is, another Sagittarius. At least he looks adorable. I’m very pleased with how all three children look right now. They’re so cute.

And I’m thrilled to have found a girlfriend for Matthew already. Matthew will be the heir to this house.