goodbye fun, hello work

well, i am pretty sure that tomorrow is monday. i keep trying to click my heels together to make something else happen and reverse time, but so far, no dice. so prepare yourselves, i think that monday might just come with the sunrise. i know, i am not happy about it either.

our weekend was a great one:
+++ our popcorn/campout nights were great, and watching our project runway peeps trying to "make it work" is always good. i decided on friday that we need some special popcorn bowls for our new tradition so i am hooking us up with some of these. if we are going to have a tradition, i want it to be marked with some special touches that malena will always remember.
+++ i decided on friday afternoon that i could use a cupcake. it had been a long, long week.

 +++ thanks to wonderful jennifer i spent time on friday listening to a story about treating kids cancer with science and a pocket full of hope. this story is about dr. olson at seattle children's who works with kids who have brain tumors. you will need kleenex to listen to it. trust me. but in exchange for the kleenex, you will find hope. you will be reminded to live in the moment. you will be humbled by the stories of strength and love. i hope that you will take time to read/listen to the story. it is worth it. the kid's stories are worth it, and you know how i feel about sharing stories. thanks again jennifer for sharing, xoxo.
+++ we ate my mom's awesome swedish pancakes during a triple birthday breakfast extravaganza at my parent's house. we went into our usual food comas due to mom's amazing cooking when you are so full, but you are also pretty happy about it. yum, i think that i will dream about pancakes tonight. this little man celebrated his first birthday this weekend, i am pretty sure that they don't get any cuter (clearly, he brought the 'hawks some luck tonight).

+++ my mom surprised me and made some gluten free cupcakes and frosted them with my favorite homemade red velvet frosting. i may have ate a lot of cupcakes this weekend. they were so, so good. of course they were, my mom made them.
+++ my dad and i spent some time at home depot planning some christmas presents he is going to help me make. i love that my dad can help my plans become a reality. super fun to have a christmas present-maker partner in crime.
+++ my mom and i spent time saturday night catching up on the latest and greatest and crafting up some surprises for a friend of ours. great way to spend a saturday night, talking and being creative with my mom. loved it.
+++ tons of fun at the fair. camel ride (yes, i said camel). horses. horse show. lots of rides. petting farm. scones (i kind of drooled watching barrett and malena eat theirs, oh how i wish there was a gluten free scone at the fair as good as the old school ones). on a sunday when i felt like i had about one million things to do to catch up on life, i said screw those one million things and we spent the day at the fair. all of those other things will  (and can) wait, making the most of the weekends with my family will not. definitely the right choice, but i knew that when i made it.

+++ planning a new little project i am going to work on at our house. i will blog more about that project later this week. but, in the meantime, i will share two pieces of it. i came across this you are my bucket list print this weekend and immediately fell in love with it. within the hour of finding the print, i took this picture of barrett and malena. i instantly knew that picture, and the print, are going to be side by side as part of my new project. pretty excited.

+++ spent some time having fun getting ready for an upcoming baby shower for my dear friend kerry (no pictures kerry, no hints allowed)
+++ i may have spent a little bit of down time at anthropologie on friday afternoon after a great lunch date, and i may have found a new purse that i could not live without. i may have decided it needed to come home with me. i may have decided that i deserved it, i did work half of my day off after all.
+++ i made malena's friday by surprising her with a "one direction" dvd that she had been introduced to last weekend on our bend trip. she loves their music. yes, i think that in general a 4 year old is too young to love a boy band. what do you know what else i think? i think that my girl loves music and it makes her happy. to watch her smile, dance, and love music makes me super happy - and if sometimes it comes in the form of a boy band, then so be it. i will take happiness however we can get it.

+++ i sat in the worst traffic on saturday. the worst. awful. the worst. but instead of getting super grumpy (because it was the worst ever) about it since it caused me to be late to the party i was headed to, i decided to crank the music, drink my green tea, chill out and enjoy the hell out of the worst traffic. ever.

+++ i played some good games of hello kitty bingo with malena - that girl has some awesome bingo skills, might need to sneak her into a casino soon to make her mom some big bucks. ca-ching.
+++ i laughed a lot which felt damn good.
+++ sent out reminders to all of the ladies participating in the "happy mail campaign". another week of happy mail going across the country and into canada is coming up. i am loving that.
+++ i signed this petition with the hope that this stage iv melanoma warrior will be given access to the drugs he needs to have more time with his family. if you have 5 minutes of time (and i know that you do), i hope that you too will sign the petition.
+++ caught up on the latest update on our warrior chase:
"Put me in Coach!  

Another great weekend for the Lykkens filled with Football! While we sit here and Ponder the Vikings loss, Chaser is snoozing peacefully in Lisas arms. It must have been a pretty cold day in Hell yesterday- I actually cheered the Gophers on.......but it was football- not hockey :) Yesterday we ventured out to the Gophers football game. Wow - What a great experience! The Ronald McDoonald House and the Gopher organization teamed up and got us some front row seats to the game as well as an on-field experience. Mom had plans with the neighbor gals, so Uncle Andrew joined us on what turned out to be an Awesome Gophers Game! Tanner and Ava were pretty excited when they escorted us down and let us watch some of the game right on sidelines. Chase did great. He was so close to the action, he could have been playing. We actually had to wheel him back one time, to get out of the way of the play! He handled the noise and excitement like a champ, and even managed to get a 10 minute rester in. Out of respect for the Gophers, we didn't wear our typical Sioux attire. Goldy swung by to say hi and share some Gopher spirit- little did Goldy know, we were sporting Sioux socks- cleverly hidden. Thank you RMH and Gophers for memorable experience! Although we still bleed green, we truly enjoyed, and appreciated the game and gained a new found respect for Gopher Football. The entire staff at TCF stadium were great.

Unlike the Vikings, Chase has had a winning last couple of days. Thursday in therapy, Chase got to taste some of his favorite food- Mac-n-cheese...MMMMM.- Although it was only the sauce, Im sure it was as enjoyable for him to taste, as it was for Lisa to watch him smack on it! His eye focus and neck control continue to improve -As does his over all alertness. We are looking forward to a productive, educational week at the Mayo starting tomorrow. Little Chaser is going to under go a lot of tests, and we are all anxious to start them. We are heading down there at 5am tomorrow and going to be staying the night. The rest of the week, we are going to follow the doctors agenda. We will keep you up to date on the weeks events and procedures. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. God is Good!"

i hope that your weekends were good too, and i hope that your monday is bearable. if you figure out a way to keep monday from coming, please send me the tip -- i would so appreciate it.

here we go...another one begins. let's make the most of it. xo