Meet the "Nas-ter-sons!": Working Life

Several people have asked me recently how my days have changed since I started working. I really think that, with a few minor exceptions, it has changed for the better. We'll start with the exceptions: I don't have nap time to do dishes and laundry or tidy up now. Or blog. Not really a huge deal since those things can be done after bed time and a little bit in the morning - Sophie really likes helping load and unload the laundry. Oh, and finding crayon on the wall from time to time when I come home isn't really an "up." ;)

Other happy changes:

I feel like I value the time I'm home with my girls a whole lot more. The awake time is much more deliberately spent together now.
I feel better. Getting out for a few hours every day is helping so much.
I've found something I enjoy doing, I'm going to be able to use it at home, too, and, unlike some other things I could be doing, I'm at least making a little money instead of spending it.
I've had multiple teachers at the school come and tell me how much their classes are enjoying music class and one teacher, the mom of one of my students, even came to tell me how happy her son was that I could actually control the class. I'm not really interested in posting here about the situation but let's just say that a particular student likes to think s/he runs the class and some teachers just let him/her. I did not.
Somehow the schedule just works so well right now. I hope it stays this way! I leave around 10:45, Sophie has lunch at 11:00 and then is in her room for rest time and nap time until 2:30 or 3:00 (depending on how wild we played in the morning) and then I'm home around 3:30ish. Olivia's longest nap of the day is while I'm gone, too.
Craig is getting to cook more often. He really enjoys cooking and making new recipes and I'm happy to let him do that!

I'm still working on my classroom but here are a few pictures of where I spend about 18 hours each week: