Sir, could you please stop this ride, I'd like to get off for awhile.  My life has been up and down, topsy turvy and, yes, this does eventually get around to homeschooling!  First, the serious roller coaster.  One day I get bad news, the next, good news.  And THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH for all your prayers, by the way.  I appreciate each of you for thinking of me, holding me and my family up in prayer. I mean, you've never met me but because we share a love for God this makes us connected!  Cool!  So, the good news is my stepfather is now awake and recognizing his family.  The bad news is that he's having surgery to amputate his left leg below the knee tomorrow at noon.  I can barely type this.  It's just such a shock.  It's like I don't really want to hear anymore but I can't hear enough.  I have to trust God and have faith that He's in control.  Since I can't be there with my family, all I can do is pray and listen when they call.  Thank you again for your prayers. 

Now, a good roller coaster ride.  This a.m., I decided to make chocolate chip scones.  I've only had them once and fell in love.  So I got brave and used a new recipe called Royal Chocolate Scones, fit for a queen.  Everything went great until I tried to mix the ingredients into a dough.  There wasn't enough liquid, it was just dry.  I checked the recipe and knew I had done everything right (sometimes this is a challenge, baking is not my strong point although I try to following the recipe exactly until I know it well enough to improvise.)  So, we added milk, which wasn't even in the recipe, until a good dough formed.  They went into the oven and I set the timer and sat down with my 10 yo for math (see, I told you homeschooling would be in here!)  After a bit, we all heard what sounded like a giant bumble bee buzzing in the oven.  I got my husband to open the door to check.  The scones were fine (for the moment) but the bottom heating element had blown up!  Sparks flew and I know I saw a puff of smoke (which Todd denies).  Since I really wanted to finish baking the scones, I suggested finishing them in the toaster oven but Todd decided to turn on the broiler which turned off the melted and sparking heating element on the bottom.  There were about 3 more minutes left on the timer so I assumed that Todd would watch the scones.  I returned to helping Chad with his math, then I heard Todd say, "Uh oh!"  He ran to the oven and pulled out my now well-toasted-on-the-top scones!  We decided they were still edible, which I was so glad, and they actually tasted pretty good.  The good news?  We were considering replacing our oven due to it's age and appearance so now the issue became, do we get a new element or just go ahead and get a new oven?  A small matter, yes, but I'm happy to say we'll get our new oven on Sat.  By the way, I really do hate roller coasters, but if I had to ride one to get a new oven, I think I could handle it!