"We're all together again. We're here! We're here!"

My family came into town this past Thanksgiving weekend for a family reunion. We hadn't all been together since Jeff and I got married five and a half years ago. (My younger sister, Makenzie, had a baby a couple of weeks ago and decided she wasn't up to the trip. We all understood but missed her family very much.) The Lee Family Extravaganza of Fun 2007 (or LFEOF '07) events were as follows:

Thursday: Thanksgiving feast at Katy's which included more pie. I officially filled my pie quota for the decade.

Friday: Nicole's Family Trivia Game, Round One during which my team (Team Wonder) earned the highest points. Mom acted as MC for a talent show after dinner. The grandkids played short pieces and the kids sang "Never Tell a Lie" as a tribute to our days on the nursing home circuit.

Saturday: Katy set out to photograph 31 people at their best. Most of them cooperated. The ladies headed to Beadazzled in Cary to celebrate Allyn's 30th birthday. On the way home we stopped at Goodberry's to add joy to our Thanksgiving hips. The men stayed with the kids and watched some sort of team sport.

Sunday: Nicole's Family Trivia Game, Rounds 2 and 3 where my team ended with negative 337 points.

We had such a great time! Harrison got to know his cousin, Adam, better and even got to have a sleepover with him. He said, "I'm going to go sleep with Adam because he's not my cousin, anymore. He's my friend." Awwwww.

Take a look at the slideshow below for a play-by-play.

Lee Family Extravaganza of Fun 2007!

Pie Day!

I know most people eat pie on Thanksgiving, but Jeff's family does it up crazy style. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is designated "Pie Day." His mom, Patti, spends all day making an obscene amount of pies. Then the family eats pie for dinner, dessert, breakfast the next morning, lunch the next day, and dessert the next day. Sometimes there is still pie leftover on Saturday, but not always. A couple of years ago, Patti made 19 pies. In one day. Nineteen pies in one day. I salute you and your pie making skills, Patti!

Eats Lollipops, Shoots, and Leaves

The lollipops were the first of the Halloween candy to go. After a while we started calling other things lollipops (like Twizzlers and such) just to appease Chloe. I've discovered that "lollipop" is the magic word that makes all tears dry up and fighting cease. Maybe I should write a letter to Congress and let them know.

My mom never bought bandaids when I was growing up. Mom said we used them as tape and so we never had them when we needed them. Now I get it. I bought some Curious George bandaids and the kids have literally been running into the walls in hopes of bleeding. I gave them both bandaids just to make them stop.

Chloe had her two year checkup last week. (She's "perfect," in case you were wondering.) I'd been talking up the doctors office by telling her she gets a bandaid when she's done. We got to the dreaded shots and the nurse brought in a tray with bandaids and (bonus!) lollipops! When the nurse stuck her with a needle, Chloe gave me a "NOT COOL, MOM!" look and then asked for a lollipop. That's right--not one tear. I went straight to the store and bought a bag of lollipops.

The leaves here in Chapel Hill hit their peak this week. I took some shots of them as I drove around town. I love autumn!

This morning my grandma called and we talked about the healing power of lollipops. She said she has been giving out the same Tootsie Pops for the past ten years. She also mentioned that they used to get 50 to 100 trick-or-treaters, but the past few years they have only had 2 or 3. I think I know the reason why.

Chloe Belle of the Birthday Ball

My friend Jami tagged me on her blog. Apparently I'm supposed to write seven fascinating facts about myself on my blog and then tag other people. I've been wracking my brain all week to try and come up with seven fascinating facts. I think it's the word "fascinating" that has me struggling. I'm many things, but fascinating is not one of them. This past week, Chloe turned two. I find her incredibly fascinating, so I'm going to pretend Jami tagged her and tell you what makes her so cool.

1. While I was in labor with Chloe I listened to Eminem's "Lose Yourself" to get myself psyched up for the delivery. Thus began her love for hip-hop. Her favorite song is House of Pain's "Jump Around."

2. Chloe Belle is named after a wonderful 91 year-old woman that Jeff and I have known for many years. When I was a teenager, I heard that her full name is Chloe Belle Hodge. I thought it sounded so sweet and Southern and even though it also sounded kind of French I put it on my list of future girl baby names. That's the only name that ever made it on the list.
3. Up until about three weeks ago, she referred to Harrison as "Sis." I just think it's funny.

4. At around four months old, she started sleeping with a stuffed zebra on her face. Since she and Mr. Zebra have been spending so much time together, all of his hair has fallen out, his legs and tail have all been reattached, and he's gone blind. I don't know why he takes this abuse.
5. The girl loves clothes. She'll become attached to certain articles of clothing and wear them for a week straight. Last year she was a chicken for Halloween. She used to wear just the pants from that costume a couple of times a week.

6. She won't leave the house without something soft. Usually it's a choice between her blankie, Mr. Zebra, or her stuffed panda Coco Pup. Friends know Mr. Zebra and Coco Pup by name.

7. Of the twenty grandchildren on both sides of our family, Chloe is the only redheaded girl. (My friend Chelsea says redheads will be extinct by the year 2100.)

Here's a video of our sweet two-year-old birthday girl. (To activate this video, click on the movie screen and then click on the play button.)

Check out my Slide Show!

Happy Halloweek!

Harrison goes to preschool twice a week. This preschool was created by my friends and me so we wouldn't have to pay large monthly fees for our kids to learn cool stuff before kindergarten. There are three teachers and four kids (including one set of twins).

This week it was my turn to teach. I'm not very good at it. (Shh. Don't tell the other moms.) I have a really hard time filling two hours. Activities I think will last a half hour will end up taking five minutes and then I'm left with nothing to do but toss them some duplos. The best was when I taught them about doctors a few weeks ago. I gave Elmo a checkup and things were going great until I got to the shots. By the end all the girls were screaming about how they never wanted to go to the doctor and get a shot. All in a days' work.

This past week we had a Halloween party for preschool and all the teachers came. It was great fun to have the kids in their costumes and observe how the other teachers keep the kids occupied. Very impressive.

We have new neighbors in the buiding including three young boys. We've never had kids in the building that Harrison could play with before so it's been a real treat. The kids have been playing outside all week and they all went trick-or-treating together.

Harrison and Chloe loved trick-or-treating. At each house, Harrison would do his Cowardly Lion impression and run from the dogs and Chloe would search the candy bowl for lollipops.

That night Jeff and I watched the scariest Halloween movie, ever: Michael Moore's Sicko. It made me want to move to France. I'd even be willing to learn French, which I hate. (All those letters and you only pronounce 10% of them? Lame.)

I became an aunt again this week! My little sister had a baby boy named Gabriel. He's the one in the candy corn hat. (If she had her baby in France, a government nurse maid would come to her house and do her laundry while she rested. I'm just saying, it sounds good to me.)

I've been sick all weekend. I've forgotten how terribly inconvenient it is to be sick. Unless you live in France, I guess.