Christmas Clean-up

The holidays have come and gone and as usual went by too quickly.  We had a fantastic time with my family who were visiting from the Midwest.

In total we had 14 people under our roof and 16 when we stayed in a cabin in Tahoe.  Lots of people and lots of fun.

Now that everyone has headed back to their sub-zero temperatures, I've been trying to get my house in order.  Needless to say, it is no easy task.  Laundry is everywhere, toy instructions are strewn about the house, and the decorations need to come down.  Not to mention, I keep finding items that my sister's family left behind (I see a trip to the post office in my near future).

Today, I FINALLY took down our brown Christmas tree.  I'm not kidding when I say it dropped needles when I breathed on it (o.k. maybe I am exaggerating a bit).  Why is it that taking down the tree is much faster and easier than putting it up?

Anyway, I've  un-decked most of the halls and stuffed the holiday cheer back into the red and green Rubbermaid tubs (now I need to haul them out to the garage--that will happen tomorrow).

I'm almost there.......just need to get the outdoor lights off our front bushes.  Although I kinda like being the only house in the neighborhood that still shines (at least on the outside).