And they're off!

This morning I received my weekly mini e-newsletter for homeschoolers in my inbox. The topic was co-ops. This crew has never been a part of an "official" co-op, per-se, but we have been a part of something sort of like that, along with 50 gazillion extracurricular activities.
Which leads me nicely to my point....this year we are CHILLIN'. Well, "chillin" is probably a stretch, because we will most certainly be working hard, but we just won't be the key offenders in the fuel crisis anymore.
Not that fuel is my primary reason for the big chill (even though I am hardly able to afford the gas that it costs to run all over God's green earth), but rather the expense of mine and the Crew's energy. We were run so ragged last year that our schooling suffered. Our schedule was so packed out with "important" stuff, like gymnastics, ballet, MAFA (the co-op sort of thing), teaching at church, P.E. classes, Cub/Boy Scouts, Support Group field trips and play days....the list could go on and on....that we seriously have subjects that we didn't even come close to finishing (can anyone say Botany? :D).
Not to be defeated, I am fiercely guarding our time this year. I have had so many temptations to join this or help with that, but the little saying keeps going through my mind "saying yes to something outside (the home) means saying no to something inside". This rang so true for the Westie Crew last year!
I have set aside one day for us to do all of our stuff. We will be gone most of the day on that day, but this is just what works best for us. Getting it all knocked out in one fell swoop might keep the following conversation from happening every single day:
Me: Hurry up and get your Math done while I go and get your brother and sister ready to leave so that we won't be late...again!
Child: But MOOOOM! I need help!
Me: Darn! Just put it in the bag to take with us...maybe we can get to it while I pump gas...along with your Science, Reading and History. Just go brush your teeth so we are not LATE!
You get the picture. I look at my nice new school calendar, and it is pristine on Monday-Wednesday. Thursday's...our big-un...looks like a bomb exploded on each one. And then our Friday's neatly have a stray field trip or two (it helps to be the one in charge of the Support Group planning in this case! ;). I just hope it works out in practice the way it does in theory. I am not too worried about that though, because our best year ever really worked with a schedule similar to this one.
So, because I am all interested in what makes y'all tick; What kind of schedule is ideal for your family? Do you like the "cram it into one day" method or are you able to function with it being spread out?
Have a great day everyone!