We've developed a nice routine, for the most part. I'm not keeping up with the house chores as well as I would like but we're not living in a pigsty either. The basics are getting done and I'm satisfied with that for now. We spend about 1-1.5 hours a day on "school work." We usually start with some math, then do some writing, then read history or science, followed by some kind of project. We've added all of our subjects and the transition has been smooth. The only struggle has been with the Duckling, who doesn't like my attention being focused on the Monkey. We're figuring it out and making adjustments as we go along. I play with or read to her before doing any work with the Monkey and she is often in my lap while we're sitting together. I bought her some special coloring books that she enjoys. Before we read history or science, I read to her first, or just snuggle, in hopes that she'll let us get through what we need to. The Monkey is working on not interrupting when I'm reading to the Duckling in order to model that behavior to her. It is slowly all starting to come together and it honestly feels quite good and I am a bit proud of myself.
The biggest struggle has been my ability to balance my life. I have been working a lot on contract work, about 15-30 hours a week, and that has been a challenge. I am thankful for the work (check out the pics of our new digital piano that the contract work paid for!) but it is a strain on all of us. I'm not reading to the kids as much because I'm working in the evenings. This has left me feeling very inadequate. More than anything that we are doing, I think Read-Alouds are the most important and they aren't happening consistently. Our weekends aren't much fun because I'm working. I'm too tired to do much of anything so we've been having crappy dinners, rather than the homemade fare that I enjoy making. I can't remember the last time I made some bread or baked with the kids. And, like I said, the house isn't as clean as I'd like it to be. By 10:00 pm, I'm ready to do something for myself so I end up staying up way too late, watching x-files DVDs. This, of course, leaves me trudging through the next day. While a day-long supply of iced tea helps a lot, I'm burning out pretty quickly and I need to find ways to take care of myself and bring some balance into my life. I'm working on it.
Okay, now onto the fun stuff. The pictures.

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