Libby cooks, Reese shines, Nicki mugs, Claire sparkles and the Picks tighten

A range of holiday activities over the Thanksgiving weekend kept the Picks clan running on all cylinders, apparently leaving no one with enough energy to pull away in the family's football league. The 2008 season has become the closest group battle for the title in more than 10 years. The championship is up for grabs with just four weeks remaining.

A mere eight games separate worst from first in the Sunday Football Picks after 13 weeks. Not since 1997 has the group been so competitive this late in the season. Last year at this time, there was a 17-game difference between worst and first.

The long weekend started with the cooking of an 18.83-pound turkey in the Picks oven for Thanksgiving. The girls wanted to name it after the spectacular cruise ship the family sailed aboard in July from Miami to the Western Caribbean. So the turkey was called Libby, short for Liberty of the Seas. And Libby was declared the best-tasting turkey ever with her incredible juiciness. She really hit the spot.

Reese was next, Witherspoon that is, starring in the day-after-Thanksgiving movie at Gurnee Mills. "Four Christmases" entertained the family with some holiday humor that was sandwiched between hours of shopping. Nicki's purchase of a ski cap that announced "Obama 44th President" looked sharp on her as she mugged for a photo with a cutout of challenger John McCain, who she nicknamed "Johnny McC" on her MySpace page.

"Why so serious?" asked the Joker from "The Dark Knight," which some deem to be the best movie of 2008. Nicki's expression was a bit stern, but intentionally so to match her determined political counterpart.

Then there was cute Claire, the family's relatively petite Christmas tree that was purchased Saturday and decorated Sunday. For the first time in years, the angel atop the tree doesn't brush up against the ceiling, and Claire isn't mammoth enough to support the usual 2 million lights. But it's all good nonetheless, and ready to shelter a pile of presents.