The Soko's

It's been awhile!

2010-07-26T16:59:00.000-07:00

Well clearly it's been A LONG TIME! So much has happened. Cade finished up 1st grade this past June, and his baseball team went on to win their division championship! So exciting! He is doing really well and growing up SO fast! We can't believe he starts the 2nd grade in a few weeks. I remember when he was born, just like it was yesterday! Cade has had quite the busy summer, since I have been home this summer he didn't have to go to an all day camp, everyday. The first week of summer he was in a 1/2 day lacrosse camp, which he loved!!! Charlie is excited to get him on a team. The next week he was in a 1/2 day basketball camp with a friend of his, and then the following week he went to VBX (VBS with our church). This was his first year to be able to go to this and he had so much fun. He said his favorite part was the singing and all the songs! It was really neat to see him learn what it means to love God! He currently has been with his dad for the month of July, so we are SO ready to have him home.
We welcomed Cohen into our crazy life on May 30th 2010! We are all so excited to have him here finally! Charlie is just loving having a mini me, as most of you know, Cohen looks exactly like Charlie! Cohen has been doing really well, and Cade is so in love with being a big brother! It has been nice to only have Cohen for July, and allowing us to adjust with just him, but we are so ready to have our entire family back together. Cohen has been doing the normal infant patterns, eat, play (for about an hour), then sleep. His sleeping during the day is very sporatic, and doesn't last for very long. He has done great at night, the usual 3-4 hours before waking up. Although, last night, he went 8 hours between feedings & 6 of those he slept! So that was SO nice!
We are so blessed to have Cohen here as it was a long journey to get here!
Charlie and I have decided that I will be staying home with the boys, which I could not be happier about. Of course we will be taking the financial hit, but it's all about trusting the Lord and doing what he wants us to do. I have already loved being "Susie homemaker".
Charlie turns 30 Aug.3rd, so I through a surprise early party for him in July. He had no idea, and it was so much fun!! He is pretty obsessed with getting his iphone4 (which he has now), so I had an iphone4 cake made! It was amazing!

Well I think that's enough for now. I am going to TRY and keep up with this better!

Going Home!

Best brothers

Cade looking all major league!

!
Cade ready to play ball!

Charlie's 30th party!

The iphone4 cake

We're Here!

2009-04-09T07:01:00.001-07:00

Ok so I realize I am pretty bad about keeping with up with this and everyday living. We've had a lot going on the past few weeks, but who can complain, better to be busy then not at all.
We are all getting ready for the summer and some nice warm weather. We have planned a trip down to the Hill Country in June with my parents, which I am really looking forward to. I can't really remember the last time I went on vacation with my parents.....

So I have slacked the last couple of weeks with being in the mood to make and try new recipes, but I jumped back into this week, well last night anyways! I was searching the food blogs yesterday (yes at work), trying to find something that I had most or all of the ingredients on hand (the worst is having to go to the grocery store after work). So I came across this amazing recipe for a Peanut Butter Pasta dish. I love peanut butter, although I substitued it for Almond Butter in the recipe! It was an easy easy recipe and GREAT!

Cheers!

Hmm..Pumpkin!

2009-03-03T08:34:00.000-08:00

So I actually got around to making the pumpking bread loaf, eat me delicious , it turned out amazing. Extremely moist and just tasted like perfection! You have to try this if you have the love of pumpkin like I do!

This past weekend was quite busy with a lot of running around. Charlie's parents flew in on Saturday so we were busy picking them up, getting them settled, and then cooking. Sunday was pretty much the same thing, church, brunch, getting our house cleaned, and then it was time for me to be lazy, because I was non stop on Saturday. And then the week starts all over again! I miss getting to have long weekends.........

More to come> Next recipe: My mom's homemade Banana Pudding (To die for)

For the love of Food!

2009-02-27T18:47:00.000-08:00

WOW, yes it has been quite some time since I (Shelby) have posted. Life has been busy as usual, but I love it! Cade is almost six and you can definitely tell, he has matured so much in the past several months, its crazy! He's great! Other then Char being an amazing husband, he is awesome with Cade, they definitely have fun together!
So I have decided that I am going to start posting some of the fun and yummy food that I am cooking up these days. Anyone who knows Char and I, we LOVE food, so what better way to share us with YOU! I definitely don't have the time to cook something fresh every night with a full time job and a full time mommy position, and wife, but I try! Tonight I made a dish, which I didn't realize at the time, that will be able to feed us for two other nights! YAY for those kind of dishes! I made one of Charlie's dishes that he loves and grew up eating. So Pergoies it was! I had never had these until he brought some home from the store (which I didn't like), but I found a recipe today and knew how much he enjoys these! So here it is, it is taking from, artofkoshercokking.blogspot.com.

First, the potato-cheese filling:

Ingredients:
5-6 medium sized potatoes (I used yukon gold)
1 cup grated medium or old cheddar cheese
1/2 onion, diced (I skipped on this part)
1 1/2 tsp salt
A pinch of pepper

Method:
1. Peel and chop the potatoes into small chunks.
2. Place them in a pot and fill the pot until the potatoes are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and continue to boil for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.
3. In the meantime, fry the onions and grate the cheese.
4. When the potatoes are done, drain them and mash them in a bowl with the onion and cheese. Mix in the salt and pepper.
5. Place in the fridge to cool while you're making the dough.

Next, the dough:

Ingredients:
5 cups of all purpose flour
2 tsp of salt
4 eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup warm water

Method:
1. In a large bowl, mix flour and salt together.
2. In another bowl, beat the eggs well and then add the canola oil and warm water and mix again.
3. Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture about 1/2 a cup at a time, mixing constantly, until all of the liquid mixture is combined. The dough should feel soft and slightly elastic. It shouldn't be gloopy at all. If it is, add more flour.

Now, the assembly:

1. On a floured surface, roll out the dough until it's slightly thinner than corrugated cardboard. It's best if there isn't TOO much flour, since you'll need to roll it out again (see 2nd step), and adding flour makes the dough tougher each time.
2. Using a drinking glass as a guide, cut the dough into circles. When you have no space to cut more circles, bunch the dough up and roll it out again. Keep doing this until you've got no dough left.
3. Take the first circle and roll it out so that its diameter is increased by about an inch. You don't want it to be paper thin because it may rip while you're boiling it, but if it's too thick it will feel chewy.
4. Place about 1 1/2 tbsp of the filling inside, then fold the circle in half and pinch the sides closed. After you've done this a few times you'll get an idea of just how much filling you can stuff into your perogies and you might want to try putting a bit more than 1 1/2 tbsp.
5. Boil a pot of water and when it has come to a rolling boil, drop your perogies into the water. They're ready to be taken out when they start to float.

At this point you can go ahead and fry them over medium heat in a little bit of oil, or you can freeze them for later dinners!

This recipe makes around 2 dozen!

I have found several other recipes that I will hopefully get to make tomorrow:
Homemade Biscuits- everybodylikessandwiches
Pumpkin Bread/Loaf (because I LOVE pumpkin)-Eat Me Delicious

I will keep you posted on how well these turn out!

Cheers!

In Memory...

2008-11-12T15:32:00.000-08:00

Today Shelby and I went to the doctor for our first official visit. We had been to the doctor last week for a quick check up and sonogram to make sure everything was going ok with the Baby. This morning we got more info from her doctor and we had another sonogram taken. We did not get the expected news during our sonogram and found out that the baby wasn't growing properly; the heart beat, which we had heard 6 days ago, was now gone. We are both in shock and devastated but we know it's part of God's plan for our family. We know we will see "BabySoko" in heaven one day! Thanks to all of our family and friends for their prayers and thoughts during this time.

In memory of "BabySoko"

Fall

2008-11-01T10:06:00.000-07:00

Well it has been awhile since i've last posted! We have been quite busy with a trip visiting Charlie's parents in Florida, Cade's flag football team, and other school activities! Cade recently had a Fairy Tale ball that he got to dress up for at school, he was a knight!

It has been quite the busy month but last week was a really exciting week for our family, as we found out we are expecting!!! We are shocked but extremely excited! We have almost been married for 6 months now, and apparently not wasting anytime!!!! The Mason gene will definitely live on as we are popping out babies left and right!!

I leave you with a few pictures and some great artist for the month:

Ray LaMontagne- gossip in the grain

Brooke Waggoner- heal for the honey

The fro

The Mullet

Farmer's Market/Heritage Village

2008-09-24T18:58:00.000-07:00

So Cade and I took a "field trip" to the Farmers Market and Dallas Heritage Village a couple of weeks ago. He absolutely loved going on a field trip! He kept asking afterwards, "What other field trips can we go on?" And he meant right then. So we stopped by the Highland Park Pharmacy, which I have been wanting to try for awhile now, and ate lunch together sitting at the high bar looking out onto Henderson. We had so much fun together!

I cherish the time that Cade and I get to do fun outtings like this because with our busy life it doesnt seem to happen to often and he is growing up too fast!

Always eating!

Family Fun

2008-09-24T18:24:00.000-07:00

So my dad told me I needed to change my font, for the old people! So here you are!

So this month has been a pretty busy one! We had a birthday celebration for my dad along with his mom and a few others at my aunts house in Dallas. So fun getting together with family and hearing stories from my dad and his siblings about growing up, too funny what they did back then!

I always love getting together with the Mason family, so many of us, and everyone is so warm and just easy to be with!

Here are a few pics from the gathering!

Singing Happy Birthday

My Pretty Momma

Always Daddy's Little Girl

Frist day of Kindergarten

2008-09-04T17:50:00.000-07:00

So Cade started school last week!! Monday we had orientation where Cade, Charlie, and I all went to. The kids got to go in the gym while the parents sat in their new classroom and went over things with his teacher. Then Cade and I got to come home and have a relaxing day together, Char had to go onto work. So Tuesday came, his first full day of Kindergarten, he was a little apprehensive about going. I on the other hand thought I would be fine, since he had been in preschool since he was 3. Boy was I wrong, as Im driving the whole 3 blocks to his school I almost bust into tears when we pulled in front of the school! Of course I had to hold it in, why would that make him feel anymore comfortable about going to "big kid" school? So I had to put my big girl panties on and walk him to school. We stood in the cafeteria where the kids go before the bell rings to go to class. His teacher walked by with a few other kids going to get in line, so Cade went with her, reluctant of course! So then I was off to work teary eyed and all! Fortunately, I left work early to pick Cade up on his first full day! He had a great day! Enjoy a few pics of Cade on his first day!

The Beginning

2008-08-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

As we start this new journey together, Charlie and I are so excited about what God has in store for us. Currently Charlie and I are still trying to learn each other's little quirks and adapting to them, whether we care for them or not! Charlie seems to have the most adjustment coming from living on his own with no kids and no dogs, basically no noise! Now, he has all of those!

Life has been pretty busy these last few months, getting married, moving, Cade in summer camp at the Y, traveling with work, outtings with friends, and trips to Austin and Shreveport. It has been busy but so fun! We are enjoying life!

Cade has been gone for the last 5 weekends at his dads, and we are SO excited to have him home this weekend, and spend some time with him. Its pretty hard when he is gone so much like he was. He has gotten so big and is headed to Kindergarten in 3 weeks...!! 3 weeks!! I am both excited but nervous for all things that come along with going to public school! Cade tends to be a little bit of a class clown!!

Stay tuned for more post and pictures!