Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Farewell, O' Tannenbaum...

Am I the very last one, to still be taking down Christmas?
I have two "acceptable excuses."
{They make me feel better anyhow!}

{ONE}
Today is Old Christmas, and I was observing the Holiday until then.
{TWO}
...Ashley had a small New Year's Eve Gathering, and I didn't want to start disassembling the house until after.
Take your pick! LOL!

Whatever the reason, I have almost all of it down and packed
except the Big Guy...


I was half way done, when it rained on the ladder, stored outside, that I needed to finish.

See the blue flip-flops, above?
It is 70 degrees, here!

The rest of the decorations have been sorted and made it as far as the garage. Up the steps, and I'll be through!

I can finally see "a light at the end of the tunnel," but it sure seems to be a long walk to get there.
{smiles}

Below are a few pictures from Christmas.....

David sampling Ashley's Chocolate Chip Cookies she made for Santa, while making Reindeer Food.
{dry grits, raisins, and green candy sprinkles}


A face of excitement, anticipation, and chocolate chip residue!

David's Reindeer Food & Ashley's Homemade Cookies, ready for Santa!
David's note below....
"The Princess" and David at Nana's house on Christmas morning, patiently waiting for presents to be handed out.


And on another note.....

Yesterday was my Dad's 64th Birthday!

We went out to eat with my brother's family, Friday night, to celebrate.
He doesn't read my blog, but I wanted to wish him a Happy Birthday just the same! He is "resistant" to computers! LOL! {Smart guy, just a little stuck in his ways! :) }
Happy Birthday, Daddy!

I'm off to conquer my mountain,
...all that's left of Christmas calls.

The UPS man delivered my new pillows covers earlier today,
maybe they will provide the much needed inspiration to finish!!!

~ Rhonda :)


31 comments:

Robin Beck said...

I think there are still a few people out there with their trees up! :) We just took ours down too...Now it's time to organize it all (ugh)

Sure looks like you guys had a great Christmas!

Robin~♥

Terrie's Lil' Piece of Serenity said...

I loved your pictures of Christmas. It seems like it is over way too fast. Now, it's time to think winter vaction for us!!
Hugs, Terrie

Anonymous said...

Great Christmas photos, Rhonda.

We still have one tree left to take down, when we get home from the lake. The hearth room/breakfast room/kitchen still need taking apart. Not sure if we will do it or not, until February. We're only returning home for Drew's 3rd birthday party, Saturday and to sort the mail, our neighbor is picking up,before returning to the lake for more painting and makeover fun!

Have a wonderful rest of the week!

Kristen said...

I would hate to take that tree down also it was soooo pretty!

Happy Birthday Rhonda's Daddy

Beth at Aunties said...

Fun family photos! Christmas is a daunting task and my husband asks me 'WHY' each year when it is over so fast. Your Christmas looks like it was a wonderful at your home and the memories you are creating for your family will last their life time.
We still have three small trees and their white lights up I am not ready to take down yet. I love the warm ambience they create with all the cold outside.

Good luck!

Nancy Rosalina said...

Girl, I still have one tree up! It's upstairs in the fishing room...we don't use that room much, Maybe I will take it down before Spring...lol
Glad you had a great Christmas and happy new year too! Blessing,Nancy

Darlene said...

Now why is it so much more fun to put up the tree and put out all the decorations than to take it all down and put it up????? I usually keep my stuff up a bit longer than I did but with the wild kitten I was more than ready to get it down and be able to relax!

Amelia said...

Oh we know you will get it all put away and everything cleaned up. You can not stand (nor I) everything to be out of order..all items needs to be in their proper place.

New Year - new opportunities!

Amelia said...

Oh we know you will get it all put away and everything cleaned up. You can not stand (nor I) everything to be out of order..all items needs to be in their proper place.

New Year - new opportunities!

onlymehere said...

I'm so glad to see your Christmas and what you've been up to. Those reindeer treats are too dang cute and good job Ashley on the cookies! I still don't have all my Christmas decor put up. The tree is down but it's all the other stuff. I've just been too dang busy! I'll let you know what I've been busy with soon.

Susan said...

Both sound like wonderful reasons to me. What a daunting task with that BIG tree.
Susan

SmilingSally said...

Even without being fully decorated, that is a magnificent tree. Happy B'day to your dad.

Ceekay-THINKIN of HOME said...

My hubs is putting the containers in the shed as we speak. They have been packed but he just didn't get to it. So Christmas is all gone. Can't buy any more after Christmas stuff either...cuz, all the containers are gone...oK...on to Valentines Day!

kymber said...

No Rhonda,
You are not the only one! ~sigh~ This is the first year that our Christmas decor seems to be lingering. I am almost done - just need to take the tree apart and down to the basement. Glad to know I am not the only one out there!
Blessings,
Kymber

Michelle said...

It is much more fun putting it up...I don't like taking it down but can't wait to do so after Christmas Day!

All of your decorations were so pretty!!

Happy To Be/ Gl♥ria said...

Girl I just got mine out of here on Saturday..and its so nice to see the LR all cleaned up again..but too many boxes of stuuf..big job...Happy Birthday to Daddy.. hugs and smiles Gloria

Dawn said...

I got all of my decorations down on Sunday. I still haven't hung my curtains back up in my living room though!

I loved your Christmas pictures! Tim got cookies out for Santa, reindeer food (I think we had the New England version...no grits here) and carrots for the reindeer!

I see the Christmas Story on in the background of one of your pictures. My husband LOVES that movie. We have to watch it every year :)

Happy Birthday to your dad :) :)

take care,
Dawn

Picket said...

Hey Scooter...gosh that tree is gorgeous even have 'dressed'! lol Happy Birthday to your dad! Love those sweet Christmas pics of the kids..It seems like it takes forever to get here and then all at once it is a few days away and then it's gone! But oh it feels so good to get the house back to normal! lol Hope you have a great week sweetie...Can't wait to see those pillow cases in their debut!

Deb said...

Hi Rhonda! Well you may or may not be the last but it's okay. It's not as much fun taking them down as it is putting them up! Anyways we get it done when we can and then everything seems so empty for a while, but there's always next year God willing. Deb

Nance said...

Hey Rhonda - don't worry about a thing, I just took our Christmas tree down today. :) For some reason we are so energized trimming a tree but drag ourselves when it's time to put them away.
Happy birthday to your Dad, may he have many more!

GARAGE SALE GAL said...

Wish it was warm enough here to wear my flip-flops:) Your tree is HUGE:) I can't image using a ladder and sure hope you are careful. Very sweet photo of your Dad and kids:) Time for you to relax and enjoy your new pillows.
Warmly,
Deb

Patti said...

Hi Rhonda~ Yes- I am one with my decorations still up. I normally take them down right after the first of the year but I could not deal with the mess and disorganization...not yet, so this weekend- that's what I'll be doing. Your pictures are great especially the one with your dad. Have a great week~

Patti

Windy said...

I am in the process of taking mine down today, too! I got all the ornaments off and just needed a little more time with the lights. After I see them in the morning, they will come off and hubby can take her out:( Love your Christmas morning pics!

Gone said...

It seems that Christmas comes and goes so fast...maybe the fact that Tom and I decided 7 days before we were to leave on our Christmas Vacation...to stay home, made it seem quicker this year! In the few days before Christmas, I baked cookies, cleaned the house and put up our WHITE tree, which, this year was PINK!! I used tulle and ribbon to make it pink! It looked lovely. But...on New Year's Day, I took everything down. I couldn't pass up the fact that I had Tom to help me!!! LOL!!!

I like what I see of the new Pillow Covers.

Jan

nikkicrumpet said...

Happy Birthday to your dad. We are still trying to get all of our Christmas stuff put away. I have both trees undecorated but poor hubby has been working such long hours he hasn't gotten them dismantled and put away in the basement yet. Oh well...no hurry It always leaves such a weird empty feeling in the room. Glad you had a Merry Christmas. Love the cookie pictures. He is so dang cute!

Justabeachkat said...

I've been in my flipflops lately too. This crazy weather! So warm and soooo humid. I don't like it one little bit.

Hugs!
Kat

Unknown said...

Um, my Christmas stuff is still up. Probably because we put it all out so late. It will all be put away this coming weekend.

Good job getting all organized!

Tootsie said...

my christmas is down....out of the house but far from put away...it is in the garage waiting for me to put it neatly on the shelves!
good for you ...and it looked wonderful at your house!

Empty Nest Full Life said...

It took me longer to get all the decor up than take it down. My son did all the tree undecorating which was a great help! Those pillow covers are beautiful, I have a little something that I am going to do to spruce things up a bit around here too. Have blessed and Happy New Year! Jackie

Monogram Queen said...

We took our tree down on Sunday but it is still standing on my deck bedecked in tinsel. Looks kinda sad :(

Marie said...

I am one of those "late" tree taker-downer's too. I took one tree down on the 5th and the other on the 6th. I usually do it all on the 6th...it's the 12th day of Christmas! lol Loved your photos of Christmas. Enjoy the pillow covers! I think I love them!