Shoes and Ants.

We had an infestation.
One that only lasted a couple of hours but the emotional repercussions of which I will be dealing with for a life time.
Carpenter ants.
At least shoe+carpenter ant+quick feet= death.
I killed a lot of very large ants that day.  I'm not proud of it.  But, lets face it, it was either me or the ants.  I was acting out of self defense and the defense of my children.
There was a point a midst all of my killing that I was feeling sorry for the ants.  Especially when I saw one carrying one of its kindred dead back to his home.  Then Justin made me feel better when he pointed out that it was just going to eat the other one.  I don't know if they are cannibalistic or not but I'll believe him.
I couldn't let the ants overtake these sweet faces.

I was sure glad when my knight in shining armor came to save the day.
What would I do with out this man?

Probably get eaten by ants.

He has the ability to act with a level head even when death by ant bites looms in the background.
He had patience and followed their patterns and found their entry point.  Which he quickly filled with ant poison and expandable foam.
My Hero.
We have not had a single ant since and life is good.
Also we found the lost shoe.
The one we were sure Noni threw in the garbage.
That poor guy always getting blamed for things that go missing.
Turns out it was under my sewing desk this whole time?
Who knew?
Probably the ants....
Now Justin has 2 sets of almost identical brown shoes.  That can never be a bad thing.
Sadly I still have to deal with the Mud Daubers (those things really seem to like me, if you remember they were plaguing me in Waterloo too.) and the lady bugs.  Oh the lady bugs- they seem fine in small numbers but get large quantities and their cuteness ends.  Carpenter ants are the least of my worries right now....

{I was recently reminded of the time I saved all the children from a spider- you should read about that time too- it was awesome.}

OH The Things That Plague Me...

I don't like bugs- I'm not going to deny it... And I am pretty sure you all know that by now.

I don't hate bugs- I do understand that they have a purpose and are necessary- I just don't like them. This summer has been the worst of any summer.
We began with the huge, furry, black spider with what appear to be white dots on its back- but may be stripes. I don't know, I don't care... I don't like them.

I'm pretty sure that between Jayne (my neighbor) and I, we got their population down to a manageable number. Thanks for your help Jayne!!!
But it seems that once those were gone in came the ants to take their place.
They over took our back patio at one point and when we did the sidewalk chalk paint it was like a smorgasbord for these ants.
Apparently they like cornstarch, water and food coloring- who knew?
Luckily ants don't bother me. But their hills are EVERYWHERE- and Ruby sat on one.
It wasn't a pretty sight and now I am pretty sure ants bother HER.
There are also these interesting mini red spiders that are everywhere.
They are incredibly small- I'm not even sure that they are spiders.
But I have it under good authority that they are.
So I believe them.
Even though I don't mind these red spiders- they still plague me.
I haven't 'wikipedia-ed' them
Too scared... what if they turn out to be some sort of deadly little killer red spider.
I would rather not know.
And don't get me started on the jumping spiders.
We also have what appears to be a bees nest under our front step.
They seem friendly.
They haven't stung anyone- yet...
Then to finish off my nerves we have an earwig army in our backyard. And our house.
They are always everywhere at one time.
And I am finding them constantly.
What do earwigs do anyway?
What is their purpose?
And what eats an earwig?
I hope its birds.
I don't mind birds.
Whatever it is I hope they do their job soon.
And finally, I found this in the house today.
Its called a mud dauber.
I wikipedia-ed this one.
I probably shouldn't have.
It just wasn't a good idea for me.
I prefer to be ignorant when it comes to bugs.
Anyway- just so you don't have to go through the trouble of wikipedia-ing it yourself I'll fill you in on the important details.
It is a wasp. Not aggressive apparently. But it will sting, or bite or whatever they do, if it has to I am sure. It has a very thin body with a huge bulb on its bum- as you can see from the picture. This just adds to its creepability.
There are different types- this is a black and yellow one.
It builds nests in the mud.
In order to procreate- it paralyzes a spider and lays its eggs in or on the spider.
Then when the young eventually hatch they eat said spider.
This is probably the only time I have EVER felt bad for a spider.
It just seems so cruel.
And the creepiness of the mud dauber just went up another notch.
But they do get a point from me because they eat spiders. (I guess I didn't feel that bad for the spiders)
I don't know what to think about these wasps.
Mostly I just wish they would stay the HECK OUT OF MY HOUSE!!
Seriously. I can't deal with too much more of this...

Imagine With Me...

I would like you all to take a moment out of your day to imagine with me.
Imagine a wonderfully beautiful day outside, the sun is shining, the sky is blue, you can go out without a jacket on but its not so hot that you have to wear a hat or a neck bandanna (more on the neck bandannas to come) so we decide to go outside to play.
I got Rubes all ready and protected from the sun and I strapped Noni on my back.
This is when I realize that I forgot to put a hat on him.
I was too lazy to take him out and put him back in the carrier so I got my trusty sidekick Ruby to do the honors. That was a slight fiasco- she could use a little practice in the hat-putting-on department. We did the best we could with what we had.
When we were finally ready we headed out the back door.
Luckily Jayne was out there- so when Noni's hat fell of 10 seconds into our play time she was able to replace it- no problem. She's got some mad hat-putting-on skills.
Then we all played for a while.
Ruby picked up random pieces of wood and rocks yelling 'its a clue!' every time she found one.
(Keep in mind our park is made of wood chips- so this was a fairly regular occurrence.)
Then one of our neighbors came out - yes the spider loving one from this post- and we all played well together. Despite our differing of opinions.
Then Ruby and Ainsley got distracted from their clue finding and bike riding and they discovered an ant walking on the sidewalk carrying a piece of food. So naturally we all- Jayne, me, and our neighbor- went over to take a look. Ants are pretty amazing creatures. We were all forming a circle around the ant- discussing it with the kids.
This is when I had the overwhelming urge just to step on it.
so I did.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
NOT.
But Ruby did.
.
.
.
.
.
NOT.
Wouldn't that have been super shocking though?
It made me laugh later when I thought about what would have happened if I had done that.
Or if Ruby (my sidekick) had done that.
I did have the overwhelming urge to step on that poor ant. But then I reminded myself that I am no evil bug killing monster. Despite what my neighbor may think.
I had to walk away... it wouldn't have been fair to the ant.
But I can imagine the look of utter shock and horror on my neighbors face. It would have been priceless. What would he have said or done?
Imagine with me will ya?
And have a good laugh while you are at it.