Soccer and another birthday celebration!

Just a random dress up day...

This was Caroline's second soccer class.  I know it doesn't look like it in this picture, but I promise she likes soccer and begged us to sign her up. She's been wanting to play for a while and when we were in Beaumont she went to her cousin's soccer game which made her want to play even more.

She is in a class of all boys. During this past class there was an altercation in which a boy got in her face and yelled at her and, at first, Caroline yelled "No!" back at him. Then he yelled at her again and she burst into tears. Poor girl!

Unfortunately she inherited the Henkelman flexibility and can't touch her toes.

Again, I promise we don't force her to go to soccer and she really does like it.

Our first cold day in SA so I used the excuse to bundle Caroline up for school.

We bought season tickets to a children's theater in SA and Saturday was our first play. It was so fun and we walked down to the Riverwalk afterwards and had dinner. Here is Caroline before we left for the play with her new puppy in its carrier. (Update: Kevin just informed me that I need to clarify that the puppy is not real so people don't think Caroline carries a chihuahua around in a Paris Hilton-like carrier.)

Saturday night was the Texas A&M/Nebraska game so we came up with this plan so we could watch the game uninterrupted. It worked - Parents of the year.

Yesterday we celebrated Caroline's birthday with Sarah and Jedi. We were supposed to meet them at Kiddie Park on her actual birthday but I was sick so we had to postpone until yesterday. The kids had a ball and are so funny together!

Among other things, Jedi gave Caroline a car and Sarah worried she wouldn't like it. Caroline and Jedi immediately started racing their cars and Caroline loved it.

He also gave Caroline sunglasses and a purse. (She keeps the car in her purse obviously. :))  She wanted to take a picture by herself, as you can see. After she opened her presents she wore her sunglasses and purse on all the rides...hilarious.

I asked Caroline to include Jedi in the picture and you would have thought I took away Caroline's favorite baby doll. Thank you Jedi for being a trooper. :)

Cupcakes make everything better...

Happy 4th Birthday, Caroline!

Is our baby girl really 4?!

This was kind of an odd year with her birthday party since we just moved to San Antonio and she hasn't made many friends just yet. So, we headed back to Dallas so she could celebrate with all of her friends there - and she loved it!! While we were in town, one of her friends had her 4th birthday party too so she was able to see everyone twice which made for a happy birthday girl!

The party was "Cat in the Hat" themed.

Caroline and Emerson swinging...

The most difficult part of any kid's birthday party...the group picture. I bribed with cookie cake to get these pictures.

Kevin cut out the entire Cat in the Hat's face from the cake for Caroline to eat. She loved it!

Caroline, Emerson, and Darby

Caroline was thrilled to see David and April! (Thank you guys for helping us clean up and haul all of the gifts! We miss you!!)

It was great to see everyone at the party. For those of you that couldn't come, you really were missed and we hope to see you soon!


The next day was Taylor's party at Build-A-Bear. Caroline had a ball!

Introducing Caroline's newest stuffed animal, Coconut. The kids were able to pick any outfit in the store and Caroline was the only kid that chose Christmas clothes. Its my favorite holiday so I was really excited. :)

Caroline and Darby refusing to look at me. :)

Caroline and Darby much later...still refusing to look at me. :)

Caroline, Darby, Taylor, and Sydney.

We had a great visit in Dallas and loved seeing all of our friends! Thank you to Allison and Saleh for letting us stay with you again!

Here are some pictures from Caroline celebrating her birthday with my parents. (Denyse, thanks for the headband the girls gave Caroline. She has worn it everyday since...including to school. :) )

Loving the basketball goal from Uncle Mike.

We took her to Phil's Ice House to celebrate in Austin. Great playground, and the best burgers and ice cream I've ever had. Everybody wins at Phil's! :)

Caroline loves her Papa.

She chose chocolate ice cream with gummy bears. (One day she will learn that you always get Mexican Vanilla at Amy's Ice Cream because it is, hands down, the best ice cream in the world. Until then....)

The guys were spinning her around on this thing and she would get off and try to walk and kept falling down. It was pretty funny.

All good parties must come to an end...Caroline is passed out in her car seat on the way home from Phil's.

Sorry its taken me so long to get these pictures up but its been a rough couple of weeks for us. Among other things, we've all had bronchitis and then I managed to get a nasty stomach bug on top of the bronchitis. Some thank you's are in order...

1) Thank you to my wonderfully forgiving husband who has come home from 10 hour days at the office to a house in complete disarray and a wife sprawled on the couch. Thank you for taking over with Caroline as soon as you walked in the door from a long day at work while I was sick.  Thank you for not asking why there are dishes in the sink and why the house is a mess. Thank you for fending for yourself and getting your own meals. I love you!

2) Thank you to Caroline for being an amazing 4 year old and for being so grown up for her age. She came in one morning to find me laying on the bathroom floor and asked if she could get anything for me. Then she asked if she could have a piece of her Halloween candy. I told her she could do whatever she wanted as long as she left me alone. While those were potentially dangerous words, she ate one piece of candy (the daily limit at our house) and brought me a toy truck to make my tummy feel better.Throughout the last week she continually asks if my tummy hurts and if I want her to get me something to eat or drink. She reminds me to take "tummy medicine" so I'll feel better. You are an amazing daughter!!! I love you!
3) Thank you to my parents for answering Kevin's 4 AM call asking for help while he went to work. Thank you for getting up and driving to be here shortly after Caroline woke up and allowing me to continue my time on the bathroom floor uninterrupted by a 4 year old. Mom, thank you for cleaning our entire house, doing our laundry and dishes, and keeping the house up and running while I was not. You guys literally saved us last week!