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.

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.

I don't see how it would be considered insane? Many people put up their Christmas tree and decorations Thanksgiving weekend. (So starting black Friday is VERY common). You are doing it the week before. That is such a short span of time--I fail to see why anyone would call this "insane". Yes, I realize we are all suppose to buy the party line that decorating for Xmas prior to turkey day is blasphemous, but it is really okay not to fall in step with that. I had an aunt (no longer with us) who loved her artificial Xmas trees so much that she kept all 3 up year around. I thought she was a little different, but certainly not insane!

Holly, we also do not have a tree because of the cat problem. We only have one cat, but she considers any type of Christmas tree or other decoration as a toy. I even tried a tabletop candle/wreath ornament - you know, nice red candle in the middle of a nice (artificial) wreath. When I scolded our cat for chewing on the wreath, she grabbed the whole arrangement and started to drag it off the table. The candle was *lit*, too (shudder). Obviously, that didn't last long. Since we love our wild little cat, we just enjoy decorations at other homes - unless we have time to put up lights on some of our buildings.