Starting to Think About Schedules/Routines

Okay, so now that I know what I am going to use, let's see if I can work out how and when we will use it! I want to get it figured out here, then I can try to figure out how to transfer this info to Homeschoolminder.
Mornings:
I will rise at 6 (I will, I really will!), have some blog/quiet time, and wake the kids by 6:45. Chores done and breakfast had by 8:00 am. Some reading aloud if possible. From 8 to 8:45, Boy can either do horn practice, or start on school work.

I want Boy to do his chores, but I don't want to overload him. I want his main job to be learning how to be a willing capable learner.

Boy's Daily Morning Chores:
Get up willingly, get dressed, room tidy, bed made, curtains open, brush and floss after breaky.
Clean bathroom: sink, toilet in and out, tub (inside once a week), counters, sweep, and tidy.
Litter boxes cleaned, area swept.
Garbage and recycling out
Gather personal laundry, put any laundry Mama has folded away.

Girl's Daily Morning Chores:
Get up willingly, get dressed, room tidy, bed made, curtains open, brush and floss after breaky.
Kitchen duty: Do any dishes not done the night before, dry and put away, clear and wipe counters, clean out sink. Clear and wipe table, sweep floor. She leaves soapy water for us and we do our own breakfast dishes.
Feed cats, check all water and food dishes.
Gather any and all laundry and sort/start/move over a load if possible.

Whitey the mini-van leaves the driveway at precisely 8:50, having been started and warmed up by the Boy for about 5 minutes. After I drop the Boy off, I head over to a friend's to walk. Girl uses this time for her first piano practice of the day. I pick Boy up at 11:00, then we head home for lunch and read aloud.
The only day this is different is Friday, and then Girl has her piano lesson and I skip my walk.

So, in theory it looks like we could just come home and start working from noon to dinnertime, taking some breaks here and there, but I haven't plugged in real life yet. I will say that there is much more time available to us now without any interruptions, or splitting my attention up between my kids and my job, so I am thinking this won't be so hard if we just stick to it, and don't get sucked into too many impromtu activities.

As I look at my calendar, our regularly scheduled events are these:
a) Nature Study on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays from 1 to 3 pm.
b) Horn Lessons every Wed from 2:00 to 4:00 (travel time included).
c) Food Bank deliveries the 1st and 3rd Wed's roughly from 11:15 to 1:30 (travel time included)
d)On Thurs we generally go to my Mom's and stay the whole day, 11:30 to 4 ish. I am really struggling to get the kids to do a full day's work at my Mom's and being able to split my attentions between her (running errands, etc) and the kids. They really need to be responsible for themselves much more willingly on these days.
e) On the 2nd Friday of each month there is an HSA meeting. Sometimes I go, and sometimes I don't, but it is from 12:30 to 3:30 (again that's with travel times).

I calculate roughly an average of 22 to 24 hours each week available to study, from the hours of 12 to 6.
Wow. Even though it isn't very many full days available to work each week, it still seems like I have about 8 to 10 extra hours a week more than I did just last month! Cool. I guess not working may truly be the blessing in disguise I was hoping it would be. We can also do a few things here and there on the weekends. In the past I have actually written that in for them on their weekly do list, hmm.

So. What needs to be done every day?
Latin, math, instrument practice. Oh, and SAT prep.That's about 3.5 to 4 hrs right there.
Need to fit in Classical Comp, and grammar (these 2 daily?), and alternate history and science.
When am I supposed to fit in exercise or play breaks in there? I guess he is just going to have to learn that you don't have much play time once you get to the 8th grade, hmm?

Kids just finished watching The March of the Penguins on the new DVD player. Thanks Santa!
Gotta go for now, and get ready to go celebrate the New Year- there is a great view of the Space Needle fireworks from Papa's office building, so several folks are planning on meeting there for appetizers, and to bring in the new year with fireworks! Not as convenient as when we could watch them from our living room window, but still fun.
Happy New Year!
LB