Erin was spending more and more time hanging out with her “best friend” Bungle. When she talked about him, I just smiled and nodded. I mean, it’s not like it was unusual for people in this family to talk to things that weren’t there. I just hope she doesn’t forget to spend time with real people too.

Branden, on the other hand, seemed to know what she was talking about. He asked Erin a lot about Bungle. He seemed to want to know if Bungle knew where Glenda was. Glenda who? Wait, wasn’t that the name of his favorite doll when he was a kid?

Erin seemed to understand, though. She said she’d try to find out for him.

In less confusing news, Caitlyn was being very scholarly these days. Deanne was jealous, but not jealous enough to do her own homework.

She didn’t take it very well when Branden tried to be helpful and offered to help her with her math. Sometimes big brothers just aren’t appreciated.

Then, while Branden was cleaning up after breakfast, he saw something that made his face light up.

I don’t completely understand, but I think he found his old doll? I didn’t realize it meant so much to him.

There wasn’t much time to talk after that because the school bus arrived. For the first time *all* my children were headed off to learn.

With Hetal also gone to work, I got to have a peaceful breakfast at home. Alone.

The silence was golden.

Then I had to head downtown so that the mayor could give me a medal.

Pretty nifty, huh?

Now that’s more like it.

I wonder what I should do with my new-found fame and fortune?

It was at the grocery store.

Caitlyn arrived home with her phone stuck to her ear. She can’t stop talking to some admirer.

Deanne has a new crush. She can’t stop talking about some Weaver fellow. I’m pretty sure he’s Ayden van Gould’s love child with that psycho chick Echo he was dating for a while.

I think Esteban may be a bit difficult for Deanne to catch, though.

Erin took an interest in our new stereo, which was a sort of housewarming gift from some people I’m pretty sure we don’t know. Hodginses, I think?

But she didn’t like the song that was playing.

Kitty break!

I got the kitties a new present. I don’t think they know what to make of it yet.

Everyone is back to being very responsible.

Branden in particular has been working hard on some kind of after school project. He’s hoping it will help him in his future career.

He hasn’t even been taking breaks to get something to eat.

I hear the project went very well, though! I wouldn’t expect anything else. Branden is such a hard worker.

Caitlyn is such a good big sister.

Erin went right to sleep. I swear that never happens when I do it!

Meanwhile, Deanne was hard at work at some kind of secret baking project. What could she be making?

It looks like we have another birthday coming up….

———-

No fails!

Note: I missed a fail in the last chapter and went back and edited it. If you don’t feel like going to check to see if you missed it, Branden peed himself at the party.

This is the last post before the heir poll. I’ll put that up shortly.

The big event in this post is that I discovered that the MasterController Reset Sim command is much stronger than the resetsim cheat, which is what I usually use. Branden’s IF doll wanted to “come out to play” when he was a child, and I pulled her out onto the ground while he was napping on a park bench at school. I didn’t know you had to pull out an IF *at home*. So Glenda disappeared, and I hadn’t been able to find any way to get her back. MasterController Reset Sim did it. I’m sure Branden wishes I’d figured that out a LONG time ago….

Oh, and well, Allison reached the top of her career, which would be far more exciting if that were her LTW. She only has rescued 10 people, and she needs 30. I missed several emergencies early on because I didn’t realize what a short amount of time you have to respond to them, and then she just hasn’t gotten a lot of rescue opportunities. It seems unlikely that she’ll be able to finish it, but I guess we’ll see.

Now that there are no toddlers to watch, I do get a little extra time for myself.

Sometimes I like to imagine I’m a submarine, looking out through tiny portal windows into the deep water.

Wow! They ought to warn you about water! It’s hard to breathe!

Caitlyn is spending a lot of time with the kitties. I’m so glad one of the children really understands what’s important in life.

I mean, when you look at these tender souls, how can you fail to love them?

Cat can see right into the depths of your soul.

Branden was the next of the kids to try to make peace with the refrigerator.

He told it not to feel so bad that the girls were ganging up on it. It’s hard for a guy to get a word in edgewise with so many girls around.

He suggested that the refrigerator join him and Christof for some guy time. The fridge could bring the snacks.

Erin slept sweetly in her new bad.

Until Christof and Branden showed up, trying to find the new bathroom.

It’s not that hard, guys. The door is behind you.

Today was Spooky Day, and it was time to party Wonderland style! I called everyone we knew and invited them to a big costume party.

Branden was really worried about what to wear, poor guy. His crush said she would come.

Hetal didn’t have nearly so much trouble.

Or Christof.

You could guess what Caitlyn was going to be, couldn’t you?

Deanne.

Strawberry particularly liked Erin’s costume for some reason.

Or maybe she just really liked picked on Erin.

Here came the first guest with some food to share! That’s a neat trick!

It turned out to be Larry Pierce. Branden was not impressed.

The chainsaw murderer costume turned out to be extra popular. I don’t want to know why.

I went for a different style. After all, I do my best to bring a bit of magic to everyone around me. Now where is that snack?

I was going to ask Larry if he brought any more treats when a screech went up from the kitchen.

Everyone came running in their costumes from all over the house to stare and the flames and panic.

This was my chance to show my stuff. No magic ice spells here! I can put out a fire underneath some other girls armpit. I’m that good.

In no time, I had reduced the kitchen to a black smoking mess that was at least not on fire. Christof decided he was better off eating salad.

Vegetarians.

Everyone settled down to eat and chat. We know how to make a recovery here at the Wonderland household.

Except for Branden, who missed his chance to talk to his crush Lacey Boyles because he had to dash upstairs for a shower.

Well, of course the party was a hit. Tell me that this wasn’t the most creative entertainment you ever saw.

Absolutely everyone thought the party was beautiful, even folks who didn’t attend.

When the guests left, I decided to show Hetal some of my magic tricks.

Erin came upstairs to find someone waiting for her.

Or at least she told me she welcomed her best friend to live with us. I never saw the guy.

I’m just glad to know she’s making friends.

———-

Self-Peeing: 8 + 1 = 9
Fires in Home: 1 + 1 = 2

When I said a couple of posts back that we’d soon be reminded that this is an ISBI, this is actually what I meant :). I’m not sure how much I conveyed how hilarious this was while I was playing.

Unfortunately, Allison did in fact invite everyone she could, and they brought friends, and that caused the game to crash just as Allison put out the fire. So some of the shots are from when I played through the party without the fire.

Bungle is my first successful, non-glitched Imaginary Friend. I’m pretty amused, but I hear that pretty much everyone is sick of them after a while. Caitlyn and Christof didn’t receive IF dolls due to the mailbox being glitched. Deanne’s disappeared not long after she received it. So only Branden and Erin even had dolls in this game.

One more post. Then heir poll.

Now that I have the fireplace safely upgraded, it’s the favorite place for all the kitties.

They sleep beside it and play beside it.

I’m so glad I could do something to make the house cozier for them!

Before school, Deanne and Christof got up early to do their homework. Hetal and I didn’t do too bad with our kids, did we?

Erin played sweetly with her doll Bungle the whole time I was at work.

Which was great, because the babysitter stood on the front porch the whole time. I’m sure that coming inside is usually part of the job, isn’t it?

I passed the time at work upgrading my fire extinguisher.

The emergency of the day was a big one!

Sometimes half your job is calming down people who were never in danger.

It was a hard fire to stomp out. As soon as put the fire out one place, another blaze would pop up someplace else. I really need to finish upgrading this fire extinguisher!

Meanwhile, Hetal got into a conversation after work that didn’t go very well.

Branden wanted to meet up with her after work, but since she was caught up in her argument, he decided to sit down and do his homework.

Apparently, both of them forgot they were supposed to be home for something important.

At least Caitlyn, Christof, and I were here for Deanne’s birthday.

Isn’t she beautiful?

She makes me think of someone very important — me.

Four teenagers. I don’t know how we’re going to survive.

The teens gabbed their cake while I headed upstairs.

Deanne had some advice for Caitlyn. Maybe she’s getting a little ahead of herself, don’t you think? Caitlyn is older and has more experience.

Caitlyn suggested maybe Deanne should get some more sleep and see what things looked like at the morning. Deanne took her advice and headed upstairs.

Caitlyn’s such a patient big sister.

I had to get the other birthday girl!

I couldn’t believe that my littlest baby was finally growing up.

What an amazing little girl.

We all had our cake and wondered where the rest of the family were.

Branden made it back just as the singing was done and had a slice of cake with everyone.

But where was Hetal?

I think it suddenly occurred to her that she really screwed up.

We finished our little party and cleaned up. Erin did most of the work!

I just couldn’t believe it. No more diapers! No more potty training!

Hetal finally got home, but she was ashamed to talk to to Erin.

She was so overwhelmed, she fainted dead away!

Poor dear. I think all she needs to do is apologize.

We were all well-rested the next morning after a good, quiet night’s sleep. Alone. In our own house.

Hetal was up first to feed Erin.

Then I got to work upgrading our appliances to keep them from breaking. With this many teenagers, you have to expect everything to be broken all the time if you don’t take precautions.

I got a little too involved in my work.

Branden and Christof are so picky about their food these days. On the positive side, they’re always making delicious salads for us to eat. Even if it’s annoying, I think we all eat healthier with both of them bugging us.

Caitlin and Christof are still joined at the hip. Or the shoulder. Or something. It’s so cute to see them together.

We’re just a big old happy family!

All the older kids just love Erin.

She is going to be so spoiled when she’s older.

Isn’t she cute?

Today was a Sunday. We were all moved in, which didn’t take much because we had to sell almost all our stuff to get into this house. Work and school didn’t start until Monday. There wasn’t even a holiday festival in town. What were we going to do with our day?

I decided to take the bull by the horns. We were all going to spend some time outside for a while! The fresh air would do us good.

I gathered the whole family together and took us to the playground. The teens protested that they were too old, but I put my foot down. They could find something to do there, and they would like it. Or else.

We took the cab for about two blocks to the elixer shop.

Then loaded up into the local LLAMA to get most of the rest of the way there.

LLAMA: The only way to travel! At least in this town.

Deanne couldn’t cram herself in, but she got in after we were done.

The teens got more cheerful once we arrived.

Branden shot hoops with Hetal.

He had a lot to learn.

Then this waif of a girl showed up and joined us with her toddler.

I swear, she should eat more! You could see right through her!

Deanne played pretend, pretty much the same way she always does when she’s at home, but at least she was outside doing it.

Christof and Caitlin threw the frisbee around.

Hetal and I played on the swings. Whee!

And when a toddler started screaming, it wasn’t Erin.

Erin was playing with her doll like an angel. It’s so nice when the screaming kid isn’t yours once in a while.

Branden was the first one to head home. He was anxious about his grades and wanted to get a good start on the school week.

After a while, the rest of us decided we’d had enough fun, and also the playground didn’t have much in the way of lights.

Christof fed the kitties and then tried to show them what to do about it!

Branden was more direct.

Then Christof and Branden decided to play frisbee in the back yard while Deanne headed to bed.

Branden tries hard. You have to give him that.

Hetal and I settled down to a late dinner. Suddenly, Hetal said, “Do you get the feeling we forgot a couple of kids?”

Ulp.

Where was Erin??

Fortunately, Caitlyn, who we’d also forgotten, took care of the littlest Wonderland.

We have such a responsible family!

All’s well that ends well. Could somebody get that kid a bottle?

———-

I have now played all the way to Branden’s birthday. I can’t wait to know who the heir is going to be, so I’m going to try to power through the final posts as fast as I can manage. The kids head off to school in the next post, so maybe I can manage more then one day in the next post :).

Branden has gotten really attached to Strawberry. Aren’t they sweet together?

Christof has started taking school seriously all of a sudden!

Deanne is serious about everything, even play.

Erin, on the other hand, immediately figured out how to have a good time.

I swear, she always knows when you’re looking at her.

And she always strikes a pose!

Hetal finally got to go back to work! She said she wanted to dress for success on her first day back.

I’m not sure that outfit says “success” exactly.

Still, she was really happy to get to drive to the courthouse in that car she made us buy.

I certainly hope that car will be the end of her spending spree.

I go in to work later than I used to, so I tried to have a balanced breakfast.

I didn’t go terribly well.

Then the babysitter got here.

With a look like that, he’s either a responsible young man or an axe murderer. For Erin’s sake, I hope it’s the former.

I got Erin ready in her playpen with a fresh diaper and fresh bottle.

That’s about as idiot-proof as I can make babysitting. Let’s home this boy doesn’t screw it up.

I mean, seriously, all he has to do is stand in the same room with her and do nothing, right?

The weird green lady was still in our front yard when I left for work.

Doesn’t she have someplace else she should go?

At least I got a really big, nifty fire to fight at work.

The homeowner has the most amazing taste in clothes I’ve ever seen.

Oh, and hey, Ms. Maldano! Funny running into her here!

While I was gone, I hear that my clan of angels was incredibly responsible!

Christof went home with a very rich friend of his.

Then ditched him for his dad? Big brother? Random other guy in the house?

It was as if this guy was the father he never had.

Two moms weren’t enough? Sniff!

I hope his new friend is good to him.

After a nice nap, he got up and rehearsed a speech for class.

The babysitter didn’t burn the house down, and when I got home, Erin was playing just where I left her. Isn’t she just a cutie-wootie little girly-whirly??

Then I picked her up, and she whispered baby talk in my ear. Awww.

When Branden go home, he freaked out over how messy things got.

Hetal didn’t mind, though. It just made more things for the kitties to play with.

Caitlyn took a page from Branden’s book and stayed out until dark.

But she did head home in time to go to bed, so I guess I shouldn’t be too strict.

Then we all went to bed on time.

Almost everyone.

And for one brief, shining moment, everyone was happy.

If we ended the story here, we could just say, “Happily Ever After,” huh?

———-

STILL no fails!

Beautiful Moments: 1 + 1 = 2

This episode was so horrifyingly responsible that we could almost forget we’re in an ISBI.

Except maybe the part where Christof’s friend had a deleted CC skin tone, and so he looked like a Grim Reaper kid.