Getting it All In

The most difficult part of homeschooling for me has been getting in all of the extras. The reference books, the memory work, art projects, extra reading, etc. I feel like I have two options. 1. Finding creative ways which do not fit in the 8 to 3 school model. 2. Lowering the standard and make myself believe that the extras do not matter. 2 is not an option for us. First my husband believes in raising the bar it would never do to lower it. Second I am just an extras kind of person. The messier the work the better. I cannot stand the thought of a beautiful book sitting on my shelf and the children never seeing it because I did not take the time. So, looks like we are looking for creative ways to fit it in. It takes us 5 to 6 hours a day to do the everyday work. This is if we do not do co-op or anything else during the day. I decided some of the extras would have to happen at night and on the weekends. Doing art together as a family on Sunday afternoon has been fun. It helps that Dad is home to keep Jack away. Reading some of the historical fiction as the family read aloud has been successful. We are working on a lap book now. I knew there would never be time to just sit down and do it. We are doing one thing a day and then putting it in a zip lock. When it is all done we will assemble the book. I am looking for more ideas. How do you get it all in?