Superbowl Cake

Today I finished a cake for an ex-swimmer of mine. She wanted to surprise her husband since he is a Cardinals fan. She wanted to do something fun for him. I think the cake turned out pretty good. I continue to get better and better the more cakes I do.

This is a reminder, that if you want a cake for a birthday, anniversary, valentines day, etc let me know....I would love to do it for you. I am trying to start this business, and the only way I can get it going is to book my schedule and make more cakes. I am doing my first wedding cake on the 13th of Feb. Hopefully that goes well. Wish me luck!

Love, Tamber

Hannah Montana wanna be

I think you all know by now that Emma is a HUGE fan of Hannah Montana (actually when you ask her, she likes Miley Cyrus more). On our DVR, we have a recorded 'Best of Both Worlds' Concert by Hannah Montana. Emma Loves it. She watches it all the time. Lately, she loves to pretend that she is Miley at the concert, and this is how we do it....

Emma Turns off the lights and Eric and I hold flashlights that we move all around the room. Eric says ' ARE YOU READY FOR HANNAH MONTANA?' Then Emma walks out (in a very sassy way) of the hallway into the living room while singing either best of both worlds, nobody's perfect or see you again. Those are her favorite. She even has some of the dance moves down, it is hilarious. And then to top it all off, she will run and give you a high five like you are the fans at the concert screaming to touch the 16 year old phenom. She repeats that about 10 times each song. It is so funny. Eric and I just play into her little pretend world and have a blast doing it. I will have to try and get some video of her doing that routine. In the meantime, this is her and her friends dancing to the Concert.

Addicted.

I think it is interesting how much communication has evolved since I was in high school. As most of you know a couple of months ago Marcus threw my phone in the toilet. Being the strapped college students that we are, I didn't have the money to go buy a new phone, and I didn't want to renew my contract since I want to switch companies in 5 months when my contract is up. So, needless to say, I have gone without a phone since mid December. I really was going crazy. We dont have a home phone, so if I wanted to use the phone I would have to wait until Eric got home late at night to use the phone, and by that time a lot of the phone calls I had to make couldnt be made, so I had to start using my email more, and go to peoples houses to talk to them.

So, the day has finally arrived where I have a cell phone again. And even though at times I did love not having to answer to my phone at certain times, the convinience of having a phone cannot be beat. So I welcome your calls again, and if you could all text me and send your numbers that would be great, cause then I can put them back into my phone. (my number is the same as before).

Love, Tamber

Busy Week

So this week has been very busy. Here is a review of week:

Wednesday: Eric's dad came down and took Eric and I to dinner for Eric's Birthday, and also helped us go pick up our new couch and take the old one to DI.

Thursday: The swim team had some recruits, so I got to go to dinner to Outback with the Recruits, swim team and other coaches. Yum Yum.

Friday: I had to run up to the airport and pick up a recruit. Hurry to provo, meet the other recruits for lunch, run home, tell Eric Happy Birthday, let him blow his candles out on his cake, then I had to run back to BYU for a team meeting before the swim meet against air force, help warm the swimmers up, coach swim meet where both the men and women's teams win, clean up after swim meet, meet the team at dinner at Jason's Deli, talk with coaches and then I went home to apologize to Eric for what a crapy birthday he had watching the kids all day. I was in bed about a half an hour after I got home since I had to wake up and do more swimming stuff and I was already so worn out.

Saturday: Wake up, get ready for the day, feed the kids, get them dressed, clean up their mess from the day before, rush out the door to make 9 am practice . At 10 am, rush home hang out with family let Eric take a nap, clean some more, catch up with the kids. At 11:00 leave with Emma to swim meetings before the meet, have swim meet (which took forever), clean up after meet and then head home at about 4 pm to hang out with family. Eric really wanted to go to the basketball game, but I was so beat I didnt want to do anything, I stayed home with the kids and went to bed at 8:45.

Let's just say that I am ready for a more relaxing week this week.

Love, Tamber

I say Adou

Our family turned over a new leaf in McAllister History on Wednesday evening. We finally said Farewell to the historic McAllister Family Couch. Eric's Parents bought the couch before Eric was born (over 28 years ago). It has been moved many times. There was a great sentimental value to the couch not only to Eric but every one of Eric's friends and family members. It took me 5 years to convince Eric that we needed a new one.

Eric took a picture of the old couch as they were wheeling into the DI, and texted it out to all of his friends. Throughout the night he recieved a furry of text messages and memories of the old couch. So, at last we say, Goodbye old friend, we will miss you.

Here is the replacement couch. I love it! It is very comfy, microfiber, and best of all we got a hot deal at Costco which makes the whole experience even better.

A new leaf

Whether or not you voted for Obama, this has been a historic week. I meant to write something yesterday about the inauguration, but that didnt happen. I think history is so exciting. This is such a special time in our lives, and I hope that I can remember how I feel. I hope that one day when my grandkids ask me where I was and what I was doing on the historic day of President Obama's Inauguration, that I can remember how I felt as I watched.

I wish the Obama presidency the best of luck and hope that I can do my part as a citizen of the United States. A couple of things that stuck out to me where the way that Obama's children rooted him on (giving him thumbs up and cute smirks), the way that he and his wife act around one another, they way that the President asked for everyone to be supportive and do their part in this society, the way that Aretha Franklin sang 'My country Tis of Thee', and mostly the sense of American Pride that I felt seeing close to 2 million American Flags waving in the sky as the crowds cheered for President Obama.


Love, Tamber

25 things you didnt know about me

25 things you didn't know about me

I don't know if I'll be able to think of 25 but I'll give it a try.

1. When I was a little kid I loved collecting things. I use to collect stickers (I had a 300 page album), Pins (swimming pins, olympic pins and pins from places I would visit), Pez Dispensers, dolls, swim caps, and who knows what else.

2. When I was eleven years old I went bungee jumping. My parents payed for the hour and I went 10 times in a row in that one hour. I loved it.

3. When I went to college, that was the first time in my life that I ever slept with all lights out. All through high school and before that I use to leave the hall light on and crack the door. I was SO afraid of the dark.

4. I had never tried caffeine before I met Eric.

5. I have recently discovered that I love weddings. I didnt even plan an elaborate wedding for myself, if you could even call it planning. It was more like making assignments for family members. I love helping tawni plan her wedding. Hopefully she doesnt mind.

6. When I was in college I use to align all of my clothes by color and type (long sleeve, short sleeve, pants, skirts, etc) and then I had to make sure that each hanger was one finger width apart. I couldn't go to sleep at night until it was done. I am better at it now that I have kids.

7. I have memories of when I was 2 years old yet I have the hardest time remembering anything these days.

8. I do have a photographic memory when it comes to directions. I always know where I am, and if I ever do get lost, I am dumbfounded. The swim team uses me as their map most of the time.

9. I hate taking medicine. I dont take it unless I really feel like my body could be hurt if I dont.

10. In high school I use to put up posters of surfing, and I didn't even learn how to surf until I graduated high school. I was such a faker.


11. I cry at commercials all the time.

12. When I was pregnant with Emma I craved dirt....yup, like the stuff you walk on.

13. When I was in high school I use to tell all my friends that I had kissed certain boys, but the truth was that I didnt actually have my first kiss until I graduated high school. I was so embaressed that I actually lied about it....sorry high school friends!

14. I love cookbooks.

15. In high school my friends and I use to have tea parties on Sundays. We would make cream puffs and herbal teas and sit around the table in our Sunday clothes and talk and laugh until we would cry.

16. My friends and I in High School would get together almost every friday night and watch Run Away Bride and swim on the carpet....dont ask me how we did that.

17. All through high school I got up at 3:45 am to go to swim practice and didnt get home at night until 8:00 pm (after swim practice). Dont ask me how I survived.

18. I have been to Ammon, Jordan (yeah, that is a country).

19. I am my husbands first kiss....how romantic.

20. I have an older sister. She is only 11 months older than me, but everyone thinks that I am the older sister. (that might be because I have been married 5 years and she is getting married in April)

21. I secretly love to watch Dateline, 20/20, and all those other investigative shows. I dont even know if my husband knows that. I only watch them when he isnt home on a friday night.

22. When I was 5 years old my mom was a swim coach and I use to go to work with her and just play in the pool. I was climbing up the diving board ladder one day and I slipped at the very top and slid my way all the way down the ladder hitting my chin on every single step. OUCH.

23. I use to have seizures when I was a kid, I grew out of them I guess.

24. I am the breakfast Queen. I am famous in my entire extended family for making our family recipe for crepes. As a kid I loved breakfast, and no one would make it for me, so I would get up early and make breakfast for the entire family. Even to this day when I got to visit family in California, I am expected to make them their favorite breakfast.

25. I get really grumpy at night after about 10 o clock. I am very much a morning person.

I challenge you to think of 25 things that I dont know about you.

Love, Tamber

Marcus' love for balls

Marcus is growing up fast, and the more he grow up, the more he wants to play with his dad. The other day Eric was taking a nap and when Eric woke up, Marcus was standing in the hallway when he walked out of our bedroom. Immediately Marcus ran into the bedroom grabed the football and ran as fast as he could back to Eric where he spiked the ball at his feet while yelling 'ball'.

That describes just a small portion of what marcus has been like lately. He LOVES play ball. He LOVES being rough. And most of all he LOVES playing with his dad. Here is some video of him playing with the basketball. This has become his new past time since we found a way for him to reach the basket by himself.

Love, Tamber

Pay it Forward

Read closely...this is how it works...

The Rules
1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me.
2. Winners, you must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!
3. The gift that you send to your Three Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!
4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love!

If you are not one of the Top Three Commenters on this post, you can still play along. Please take the button and post it on your blog; start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!

Love, Tamber

Random

Switching it up:

1. Where is your cell phone? My broken phone is sitting in my purse waiting for me to take the SIM card out and put it into a new phone. (marcus dumped my other one into a toilet)
2. Where is your significant other? Playing Ward Basketball
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? is amazing
6. Your favorite thing? my condo (it keeps me busy, but always trying to find new ways to decorate)
7. Your dream last night? Oh....I dreamed that I was swimming again, but there were like 100 people in each lane of the pool. My old coach was coaching me and he started stating the set we were going to do, and I totally finished his sentence cause I knew the set by heart. Then when we started swimming I had a girl sitting right at my feet the entire time (for those of you who are swimmers, you know how annoying that is). I got so annoyed with her that I started going really fast and I ended up setting a world record in practice. Haha! I know funny, right. I have been having a lot of dreams about swimming again....probably like 3-4 a week.
8. Your dream/goal? Near future: getting my house deep cleaned, distant future: help Eric find a job once he graduates and support him in the decision that he makes.
9. The room you're in. Living Room
10. Your hobby? cooking. blogging (suprise, suprise). making wedding/birthday cakes. having fun with kids and family. playing games.
11. Your fear? drowning. house fires and not being able to get to my kids.
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years?In 6 years I will be 32 years old. I hope that we have a house in a location that we are willing to stay long term, I hope that I have 1 or 2 more children.
13. Where were you last night? Costco and Home
14. What you're not? im not a perfect mom, im not a horrible mom, i am not a perfect cook, but at least i try and cook, i am not a lot of things, but at least i am me.
15. One of your wish-list items?
-Right now I really want a new couch. I found one at costco that I love, but I need to be patient and wait until my hubby is done with school.
16. The last thing you did? went to Cafe Rio for dinner
17. Your mood? tired and ready for bed
18. Favorite store? Costco, Target, Down East Outfitters
19. Your summer? i cant remember that far back
20. Love someone? many people, especially my hubby and kids.
21. Your favorite color? green
22. When is the last time you laughed?today when marcus was nodding 'yes'
23. Last time you cried? 5 minutes ago, I was watching Dateline NBC about the plane landing this last week,, and they showed a father and son re uniting....I know, it doesnt take much to make me cry.
24. Are you genuine or fake? Genuine. I hope.
25. Any Vices? eating sweets.....mainly chocolate.


Love, Tamber

Follow up Ouch

So after posting this afternoon, I went to work. I had to take both of my kids since Eric was at school. When I take Marcus to work, it means a lot of chasing him, picking him up, carrying him and then relocating him to a safer spot. All of this contributed to my headaches getting worse, my back hurting more and the shooting pain in my neck to increase. Before work was even over, the other coaches told me to take because they saw me cringing in pain. So, a half hour before work was over I headed up to the BYU Health Center (with my children mind you) to get checked by a doctor.

Once I arrived and the doctor saw me he said he wanted to take some X-rays. The first thing that went through my mind was not 'oh, maybe that means it could be something serious', it was 'what am I going to do with my children'. Luckily, it is BYU. The nurses came and watched the kids while they took Xrays of my chest, neck and head for 45 minutes.

I guess I am kind of dragging this on and on. To make a long story short, after 3 hours of being at the Urgent Care, I came away knowing I had to wear a neck brace for a week, do physical therapy until neck/back are better, let my bruised ribs heal, take muscle relaxants to prevent my neck muscles from moving the bones and most of all REST.

Luckily, everything should heal in a couple of weeks. Eric thinks I look like a turtle. Hopefully I don't look too retarded.

Ouch!

So, picture the guy in the air as me and no banana, on the BYU Pool Deck. Ouch! Yeah, that is what I said. I got up right away, thinking I was fine, but it is starting to hurt more and more. I think I am going to go see a doctor today. I have never had back problems before, so maybe I am being dramatic, but it hurts!

Oh, and it just happens to be the same exact spot that I feel on the pool deck as when I feel when I was pregnant with Marcus!
Love, Tamber

Las Vegas

On the way home from LA, we made a last minute decision to stay in Vegas so that we could watch the BYU vs. Wakeforest Basketball game. We called Eric's Brother when we were an hour outside of Vegas to book a hotel on Hotels.com for us. We got a room at the New York new York hotel for $65. Awesome deal. The best part was that when we went to check in, Eric said, 'we have never stayed in vegas, is there anyway that you can get us an upgrade or a comped room'. The lady at the front desk upgraded us to a bigger room. Emma's favorite part of the hotel was looking out the window and watching the people on the roller coaster. Eric and I both rode it. You cant really see Eric on the roller coaster, but the picture above is of him riding the coaster.

We watched the Game in the ESPN Zone. It was a handful keeping the kids from tearing the place apart, but we worth it to watch the game, if only they had one it would have been even better.

After the game, Eric took Marcus back to the room and put him to bed and then Emma and I had a girls night out on the strip...okay, well, not exactly what you can imagine, but we went over to the Excalibur and played games in the arcade. Emma had a blast and even beat me at a game that we played together. Emma was sad that she wasnt old enough to ride the Polar Express ride (one of those ride simulators) because she was too little, but if you ask her what her favorite part of the whole trip was, she says the polar express ride, and she didnt even ride it. It must be pretty amazing in her dreams.

We had a fun trip and a great time spending the week with each other. Hopefully we will continue to have fun family vacations like this one.

Love, Tamber

More....Cali Trip

Here are some more random pictures from our trip:

These were taken of Emma at the Swim Meet right before our drive home.
It was pretty cold in Irvine.

Love, Tamber

Balboa Beach

Emma was so excited when we went to the Beach on New Year's Day. She had been to the Ocean a couple of times before, but I dont think she really remembers it. It was a cold day there. We had to go buy Emma a heavy sweatshirt because we didnt even bring her jacket. It was 75 deg inland, but freezing on the coast. Eric's big joke this trip was that Emma is afraid of her own shadow. I kept saying, no she isnt, but then when we went to the beach he proved me wrong when she wouldnt even pick up a shell because she was afraid they would bite her. She is hilarious.
Love, Tamber

The Beach

Rubios

One of my favorite places to eat out is Rubios. Yummy Mexican food. Here are some pictures from California when we went to Rubios. The kids were both acting so funny.
Love, Tamber

Hotel California

Here are some random pictures from our trip to California. All of these were taken in our hotel room while we were eating. Everyone laughs when we tell them that we put Marcus' porta crib in the bathroom. He only sleeps well when he can't see anyone else, so that was our only choice. The only thing that was not fun was having to go to the bathroom in the dark so that you didnt wake him up.
We just got back Sunday. It hasnt been very long, and we already miss the Warm weather. Fair the well Warm weather.
Love, Tamber

Happy New Year........a time to Renew my goals

I think I need to take a hint from this comic...Sorry Eric, I will try harder.

I know that some people (including my husband) think that New Year's Resolutions are dumb because why not do it any other time during the year?!

For me the new year is a time to evaluate my goals as well as set new ones. So, I figured that in order to feel accountable for a couple of them I would post them, so keep me honest....

Being Myself - feel better about myself by being conscious of the things that I do to my body (eat, exercise, relax, etc.) and take time for myself each week.

Being a Wife- Don't Nag and try to go out of my way to do something special for my husband each day.

Being a Mom- Be more patient with my children and have fun with them (don't be afraid to be a child with them).

Being a member of the Church- Attend the temple once per month and try and prepare for the Sacrament so that it means more each week.

Being a swim coach- go out of my way to help each individual on the team feel like they are important.

I hope that I can look back in a year and know that I have improved in each of these areas, even if I didn't accomplish everything that I had hoped for.

Happy New Year! I hope that 2009 is a better year for everyone.

Love, Tamber

Grandma Sue's House

The McAllister grandkids:

We don't get to go to Eric's mom's very often, so when we did the kids had fun. We decided to get a picture of all the grand kids together and the brother's with their boys.
Love, Tamber