Lucy is at the stage where she wants to help Mommy, whether it be with cooking or washing dishes. We’ve been dragging the kitchen chairs (really dining room chairs) over to the counter, but they’re pretty heavy and bulky. It’s funny watching Lucy try to push them.

I’m thinking about investing in a metal step stool for her to stand on when she wants to help. I think that will be easier in the long run. Plus, it will be something that short little ole me can use to reach things that are kept up high.

What do you moms use? Step stool? Kitchen chair?

My brother is an excellent pianist. Sadly, neither my other brother nor I kept up with our piano lessons, but Randy did and it paid off. He loves to compose his own music, and he created such a nice piece for our grandfather’s funeral two weeks ago.

He has a keyboard, but he’s always on the lookout for other Top Selling Music Products. Besides the keyboard/piano, he also plays the acoustic guitar, and this site has such a great selection of not just guitars and keyboards but drums and other percussion instruments, sound boards, DJ equipment and other accessories. They’re also being sold at much lower prices than they retail for, which is great in this economy. People are scrimping and saving, and look for any kind of deal they can get. I need to send him information about this website, which could be bad, though, because he could blow a lot of money on instruments and equipment!

I hope that my daughter will get the musical gene that runs in our family. Maybe one day, I’ll be shopping on this site for a keyboard or guitar for her. I sure hope so!

What about you? Do you play any instruments?

I am finally back! Whew. I thought I had avoided the stomach bug that hit Joe and Lucy, but it was determined not to let me get away. Thankfully, it waited until after my grandpa’s memorial service (I’ll have to share some pictures from our weekend with my whole family later).

This week, I got my first Farmers Market Basket. Actually, I got it the day before I got sick. So, I haven’t had a chance to use much of it yet, though Lucy has gone through almost all the bananas! I think these regular baskets will last me two weeks, so my plan is to get two a month for now.

I know you all want to see the goodies. Right?? Here they are:

I seriously could not be more excited. Here’s a breakdown of what I got:

I actually swapped out two limes for two extra red potatoes, and now I’m wishing I hadn’t. I didn’t realize I needed that to make salsa! Oh well. I’ll pick up either a lime or some lime juice from the store.

So, what am I planning to do with my haul? I think I’m going to make up a salad tonight using the lettuce, spinach, half the onion and the cucumber. This weekend, I hope to use the tomatoes, extra onion and pepper to make salsa (never done this before, and I’m excited about it) and guacamole. We LOVE snacking on chips with salsa and guacamole. I’m also probably going to cut up the cantaloupe tonight.

The red potatoes will be used either for lunches or dinners, as will the green beans, and the fruit (aside from the bananas Lucy pigged out on) will be good for snacks.

I’m anxious to see what my next basket will hold!

At the end of last month, we surprised Lucy with tickets to VeggieTales Live! It was a last minute deal because we didn’t find out a show near us had opened up until a week before. Lucy was BEYOND excited when she realized where we were going. She loves VeggieTales, and I knew she was going to have a blast.

When we arrived, we got Lucy a shirt and a hat. She made a cute Bob.

We got there about an hour and a half or so before the doors opened — so about two and a half hours before the show started — and we were pretty close to the front of the line. We had VIP ticket and, while we were guaranteed closer seats than general admission, we wanted front row seats. I wanted this to be the best experience possible for Lucy.

When the doors opened, we headed in. We couldn’t rush like we wanted to because people in front of us were meandering down the aisle. We snagged the last three seats in the front row and were ecstatic. Then, we realized we had an hour to wait before the show started and weren’t really sure what to do with Lucy. Not to fear, though — Lucy danced the ENTIRE hour. Well, she went back and forth between dancing and climbing on the step in front of the stage. She had a blast.

This is her before the show started. Yeah. I know. The energy.

I wish I had gotten video of Lucy’s squeal when she saw the veggies come out on stage for the first time. It seriously made me tear up. She was SO happy. But, I didn’t think about videotaping her until the opening song was almost done. However, you can still see how excited she is.

You would think that Lucy would get tired at some point since, you know, she danced the entire time we waited for the show to start. You would be wrong. That girl did not stop. She was the only one dancing during the first half. At intermission, one of the church members who was helping with the show approached me and said, “You have a dancer, don’t you?” Why yes, yes I do.

During the second half of the show, other kids got up and danced.

And, there were BUBBLES!

After the show, we got to meet Bob and Larry. But, as Joe and I both said, they obviously weren’t the REAL Bob and Larry because they had arms. And legs. And everyone knows that VeggieTales don’t have either.

We had a great time, and I can’t wait to take Lucy back next time!