Hello, fall

Cutie patootie

Making Wendy a sugar-free cake for her birthday...

... and helping with the candles!

Rod has befriended this photographer, Mark.  This is the second time he's come by the house to visit.  This time, he brought 2 Screech Owl boxes to donate to the refuge.  Charley was really interested in them, and he took the time to explain how they work to her.  He's a super duper nice guy.

He always leaves treats, though it should be the other way around - the poor guy travels the country and lives out of his car!  He left birthday brownies for Charley, and of course she had to dig in right away!

He and Rod birded for a few hours, then he had to head to SLC where he was photographing lead singer of the band "Squeeze" (you know that song, Tempted by the fruit...)  He had an extra ticket which he offered us...  that would have been fun!

Here is his site, if anyone wants to check it out - he's really talented:

http://stillofthemoment.com/   and   http://www.markbrownphoto.com/

Rod and Charley, playing hide and seek...

An October Surprise

One late afternoon, we went for a drive on the refuge.  When we came home, we found this!

Our super neighbor Trish, AFTER taking our dogs for their second (if not third) walk of the day, had sneaked in and secretly decorated Charley's bedroom in Halloween lights!  HOW FUN!  Charley was enthralled!

Medals, growth charts and knee pillows

Charley wanted to see how Dada's knee pillow works...

Pretending to sleep

So - we started working on 4 goals about a month ago.  I'm pleased to report - she has mastered day-time potty training!  So, here she is proudly displaying her sticker chart, the medal she earned, and the prize she chose.

After sleeping in her bed most nights over the course of 2 weeks...  she's been in our bed almost every day for the last 7 nights.  I'm starting to think I should let that go - she's going to do what she's going to do!

The hitting has dramatically lessened - coincidence?  Not ready to call it "mastered" yet, but much better!

We've yet to sleep even once w/o the binky...

By her growth chart - 3 feet tall!

Our First Picnic

We've had semblances of picnics, but I have a great picnic basket that was ours growing up, and Mom has stocked it with supplies and everything, and it was just begging to be used.  So, one day I asked Charley if she wanted to have a picnic the following day.  She got SO EXCITED - and spent about 24 hours prepping for it!

After packing our basket, she decided she wanted to pack one of her own.  With - her tea set!

Ready to go!  The hard part will be waiting for tomorrow!

Susie stopped by to visit.

Too bad I couldn't get them both to look good at the same time!

 Okay, now it's time for tea!

After Dada and Susie went back to work, we played for another hour!

You'll notice her "new baby" starting to figure more prominently in posts I think...

Rolling down the hill!