Gen 1 Chapter 19: Teenagers!

Trixi here!

Life has been so busy around here with 3 kids that I don't know whether I'm coming or going half of the time. Unfortunately, I somehow managed to lose a ton of pictures... including Neli's birthday! I can't believe they're gone.

So I'll just have to summarize what's been going on since the last time I wrote. Everyone has been working hard on their extracurricular opportunities. I did some bonus catering, VJ won over a new informant, Neli earned extra credit at school and Fi spent a lot of time at the stadium. She attended a game and also participated in the amateur olympics! VJ is so proud that she's following in his athletic footsteps.

Neli turned into a rebellious teen. She completely changed her appearance, got a job at the bookstore and, in the most rebellious of ways, announced her intention of going into law enforcement when she graduates! I thought VJ was going to have a heart attack right there... Of course, Fi immediately announced that she was going to become a criminal just like her dad. So my daughters have basically decided to be sworn enemies... should make family gatherings interesting!

In other news, VJ mastered his athletic skills and was promoted to Super Villain and then to Emperor of Evil in quick succession! He was so excited to reach his long term goal so young, but the red glow does take some getting used to. He's been fascinated by astronomy lately and started naming all of the stars that he discovers after me and the kids.

Which brings us to now! Fi likes to be pretty much anywhere but home these days, spending most of her time at the pool. At least she does her homework before playing.

I wonder about some of the adults there, though... doesn't this seem a little creepy?

I've been so busy since my birthday that I sometimes forget that I'm an elder now... but my energy level certainly reminds me of it! It's going to be time to retire soon, just as soon as I master my cooking skills.

Before we knew it, it was time for Fi's and Storm's birthdays! I'm the one who wanted to have a party this time... my last baby growing up and all. Of course, Storm couldn't figure out what all of the fuss was about.

Isn't he a handsome boy?

Shortly thereafter, it was Fi's turn!

She really does look lot like me, but I can see VJ in there too. As soon as her birthday was over, she went out and got a part-time job at the local day spa... I'm going to have to take advantage of her employee discount one of these days!

Storm asked for a guitar for his birthday and, of course, we got him an easel too. He and Neli seem to have inherited my creative streak while Fi is more athletic and logical, like VJ!

Here are my girls, heading off to school. I'm lucky that they seem to be good friends so far!

For all of her rebelliousness, Neli really is a good girl. We're lucky that she hasn't been too much trouble.

Now that he's fulfilled his career objective, VJ has been taking a little leisure time. He went back to one of his forgotten hobbies... fishing! If I don't keep an eye on it, he'll spend all night fishing after work and exhaust himself.

Me, I'm content to spend my off time with my kids. They're such interesting people.

 

But I knew it was too good to last... pretty soon, Fi started staying out after curfew and skipping classes. I told VJ that he needed to handle it as I'm sure it was his evil influence. I can't believe the cops had to bring her home in the middle of the night! What must the neighbors think.

I'm going to jump ahead just a bit here, to save the drama for my next post (and there was drama, lots and lots of drama). Storm's latest birthday has been a bright spot in a very rough patch and I think it fits in better here.

A house full of teenagers. Why didn't this occur to me when I was having all of those babies!?

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A/N: When I went to upload my pictures for this chapter, I discovered that all of my pictures were gone!!! All of the pics from my previous chapters, all but the most recent pictures. I can't believe that I lost Neli's birthday and VJ's LTW. I have no idea where they went. Hubby can't find them, either. I blame the baby... she's been known to pound on the keyboard.

Things are about to get pretty bumpy. Trixi had an extraordinarily bad day.

Gen 1 Chapter 18: No more babies in the house!

Trixi here!

I'm hard at work on my new novel "Cupcakes". It's going pretty well... I think it might be my best work yet, even if it is just a romance novel!

Neli is turning into a good student. She does her homework without any nagging, even when she has friends over after school! I'm sure this won't last (at least one of the kids is bound to be rebellious!), but I'm going to enjoy it while I can.

It's a good thing that Neli is so independent. Fi and Storm have been taking up a lot of my time!

Luckily, VJ and I still get some alone time. I admit, I've been a little worried that he wouldn't be attracted to an old lady, but that doesn't seem to be a problem!

VJ had some excitement at work a couple of days ago! Apparently, he faced off against a secret agent in some kind of extreme cage fight thing. He won, of course, and got a raise and everything. It really inspired him to work on his next promotion... and it worked, too! He's a Sidekick now!

My maternity leave has come to an end. I'm hoping to retire soon, but for now I'm back to the daily grind. I got my promotion to sous chef as soon as I returned to work. I guess all of that cooking practice during leave really paid off!

VJ and I have back-to-back schedules so we only need babysitting for half an hour a day. I think VJ really likes having the alone time with the kids in the afternoon. He and Fi are still practically inseparable.

I worry a little about the unsupervised time that Neli gets now that I'm back at work. I hope she doesn't head down the wrong path as she hurtles toward her teen years.

VJ has been burning the candle at both ends working toward his promotions and taking care of the kids.

Fi and Storm shared a birthday recently! Fi moved up to being a child and Storm is now a toddler. There won't be any more babies in the house (at least until there are grandchildren), which is very sad to me. But watching the kids grow is fascinating.

Unfortunately, my initial apprehension about Fiona's nature proved true. Her first act as a child was to steal candy from her little brother! Storm reached out for a hug from his big sister and was rewarded with tears.

I'm not sure how I feel about having two evil people in the house. (Honestly, I'm still trying to get used to the idea that I married one!) I decided to put it out of my mind and work on teaching Storm how to talk... at least that way he can tell me when Fi is mean to him!

We did a little more finishing of our second floor to give the girls a room of their own. They picked out their own wallpaper and flooring, based on their favorite colors. I think they had a good time working together to decorate their new room! We also finally finished putting in an upstairs bathroom. It will be so nice to have a second toilet and shower in the house.

I can't believe two of the kids are heading off to school now!

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A/N: Things are really picking up now, what with 4 people in the house wishing away. It's kind of hard to keep up with them! Trixi keeps wishing to have another baby, but, luckily, her wish queue is full so I can kind of ignore that. I'm cutting her off considering she's an elder and really needs to get to work on her LTW. 

Also, I think I'm just going to go with first-born being automatic heirs. Less confusing that way. So look for Neli to take over eventually. Assuming Trixi finishes her LTW before she dies, anyway.

Gen 1 Chapter 17: Getting older

Trixi here!

The last time I wrote, I'd just given birth to our third (and most definitely last) baby. Storm is a joy, of course, and I'm loving how complete our family feels now. And VJ told me after all of the excitement of the new baby wore off that he'd gotten a promotion! He's a Henchman now, evil evil man.

We've settled into a new routine now that we have a school kid, a toddler and a baby in the house! Neli is a trooper, though, and has been very independent about getting her schoolwork done and entertaining herself. She's been practicing her writing and painting a lot. Her creativity is amazing to me.

VJ has been working hard to earn his promotions, but he's always available to help out with the kids, too. This will be especially handy once my maternity leave is over and I'm back to work. I think VJ and Fiona might have a special bond, they're like two peas in a pod!

And he's such a big kid that he's their best play mate most of the time!

Of course, he adores his new son. As much as he cherishes our daughters, I think VJ really wanted a boy. Someone to pass off all of his manly knowledge or something. I suppose I have the wrong chromosomal makeup to really understand the father-son bond!

All of VJ's help has given me the time to finish Ithaca to Chicago! Finally! The royalties on it will be a big help and bring me one step closer to being able to make my living as a writer. Considering how long I've been working on this novel and how much life has changed in that time, I have no idea what to write next!

I think I'll just focus on painting for a while so I don't have to think about it too much.

Before I knew it, it was time for my birthday! I can't believe I'm going to be an elder. I have a (much) younger husband and three young children... I don't think I'm ready for this! Of course, VJ wanted to have a party for me and invited all of our friends over to celebrate.

I wasn't sure what to wish for when it was time to blow out the candles, though. I have a great family and an almost-successful career as a novelist. I'm on my way to the top of my culinary career. And I'm surrounded by people who love me.

Maybe I should wish for a few more years to actually accomplish my long-term goal of becoming an Illustrious Author!

 I might be old, but I don't think I look too bad yet!

Oddly enough, one of our guests made their way upstairs just to say mean things to Storm! Who in their right mind jeers at a little baby?

 I considered hitting her over the head with potted plant or something, but in the end I just shooed her away and made sure that Fi and Storm were ok. I don't know why we can't have normal friends. (Ok, I'll admit that it might have something to do with my evil husband...)

After the party was over and the kids were all in bed, VJ and I spent some quality time together. It's so rare that we're in the same place at the same time.

I'm really going to miss the family time when I go back to work. I suppose that I could technically retire now that I'm an elder, but I really want to make it to the top of the culinary field! Still, I'm going to milk my maternity leave for all that it's worth!

That's not to say that I'm not working on my cooking skills while I'm off...

And I finally decided to write another romance novel. This one is called "Cupcakes"! I thought that combining writing and cooking might give me a lot of inspiration.

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A/N: This is kind of a boring chapter, but there's just a lot of life stuff going on right now. I'm pretty sure that will pick up once the kids get into school and Trixi goes back to work. And she's still rolling wishes to have more babies! I don't think you're allowed to do that once you're an elder...