We sold our home in just 3 days Oct. 2011. We had an offer on a short sale we planned to gut (which was taking too long in the end, so we pulled our offer March 2012). We finally decided in May 2012 we were going to build. We signed a 6 month lease initially with an option of going month-to-month after that. It is a small house with no yard, but it is in a great neighborhood near the kids' school. It doesn't require a lot of maintenance & our monthly bills are much lower, but we still have the privacy. I did look at apartments, but I felt we would be too squished. We were very lucky to find this house on Craigslist for an excellent monthly rent amount. The homeowners live in a bigger home they built nearby, so they are flexible with our situation. We sign 3 month leases at a time since the initial lease ran out. If we want to go month-to-month (which we will do when it gets closer to our build being finished), we will pay an additional $50/month, per the terms of our lease. They allow us a 30 day notice in writing. With the number of children you have (& pets) I would definitely try to find a situation like ours. I know friends who've gotten burned on CL rentals, but ours has been ideal. The kids have made friends for life while we've lived here. The neighbors are the best, & I will cry when we move into our new house, as I will miss these neighbors so much. The people we are renting from are lovely, too. They were initially going to rent the home to another family who could sign a 12-month lease. After we saw the rental for the first time, I told the homeowners we would take care of their home like it was our own. That sealed the deal! They called us 20 minutes later & said we had the house, as they trusted us more! I think being in limbo for such a long time will be a nightmare with 4 kids. If I was in your shoes, I would go nutty. Kids thrive on routine & permanency (my social worker hat is on). It might be a fun adventure at first, but it will eventually get old. Also, building is stressful enough. I don't think it will help your marriage, either. Plus, do you really want to be out of town while your house is being built? I plan to stop by every day I can. Not being there is very risky. Good luck with your decision & I hope you sell your home as quickly as we did.

Have you checked Kmart? Taht's where I found my big Rubbermaid tub for my tree. My tree's 3 sections, too. You ahve to squish it down, but it fits. I'm not at home, so I cna't see how long the tub is. If I had to guess offhand, it's 3.5-4 ft long. I do remember that the top is rounded, not the flat kind, and I think it's hinges/attached to the bottom. I didn't put the tree up this year, so I'm having to go on old memory - LOL! KMart doesn't have them out year round, but they have them around Christmas and into January when everyone's on the organizing resolution kick. It looks kinda like this: http://www.rubbermaid.com/rubbermaid/product/product.jhtml?prodId=HPProd150034 Now, they do have a new tree bag out that looks interesting: http://www.rubbermaid.com/rubbermaid/product/product.jhtml?prodId=HPProd100276 I'm pretty sure I saw this at Target.

Well, I live single and I decorate every year. I think the trick is to make your own holiday traditions. For my part, I put up the tree on Thanksgiving Day as I watch the Macy's parade. I live in a tiny house, so I go the fake tree route, most live trees are too FAT for my floorspace. Anyway, I make myself mulled apple cider, grab the step ladder from the garage and get to work. By the time Santa appears on TV, the tree is up, lights on, ornaments and garland in place. Over the next week, I start pulling out and decorating the rest of the house. I do make real garland for my fireplace, I must have the fir-tree smell, but I get those cuttings for free from a local tree lot. I also have holly, rosemary and boxwoods growing in my yard to add to the tree cuttings. My one real splurge is real wreaths for my windows that I get from a local nursery. Candles in the window, a few knick-knacks out and presto! Instant Christmas. Being single can be a bit of a downer sometimes. So to keep myself in the spirit, I plug in the tree for at least an hour each night. Sometimes I splurge on a mug of cocoa. After the holidays, I repeat the cycle, except that I put the stuff up during the Rose Parade. Another thing that gets me into the holiday spirit is baking. Even though I don't have anyone to bake for, I make all kinds of cookies and take them to a nearby retirement/assisted living community. Of course some of the cookies never make it out of the house...heh!

The first year we were married, I put up a live tree. The Sunday after Xmas, which happened to be the 26th, my husband went to church and I decided the tree was too dry and a hazard so I took it down while I had the house to myself. When my husband returned from church, he told me his parents and sister were on the way over to see our tree. I didn't know it was their tradition to visit each other to see the trees. Whoops. There's the tree on the porch waiting to be dragged to the curb and here are the boxes the ornaments are in. Pretty, no? Most years I don't put up a tree. I put up a tree the first one or two years we were married but didn't enjoy it so I stopped for many years. When my niece and nephew starting visiting us for the month of December, we did a tree again for 4-5 years. They will not be visiting this year so no tree is planned. When I do a tree, and it's live, I wait until a week or so before Xmas. If I use our fake one, I put it up the Saturday or Sunday after Thanksgiving. I don't have a set tear down day, it depends on tree dryness, my schedule, if I'm tired of the look and need a clean slate.