Creepy Crawlies

I've really not been the kind of person that is scared of creepy crawlies. I actually prided myself in being the girl that loved spiders and grasshoppers and bugs. In fact, my favorite animal as a kid was a snake. And I still love snakes; I've got no problem with those guys. But the other things have really gotten on my nerves lately.

First it was ants. They have their devious little ways of getting into our house. You name a place in our home, and they've found something to eat there. Yesterday, I found some ants eating a drop of something on the wall right above the sink. It must have splattered and dried there, and these little freaks found it and started calling all their friends to come get a taste. Luckily, I blasted them with Raid before too many could get there. 

The worst ant situation was a few weeks ago. We came home from church, and I put something on our table. There was a dark green tablecloth on it, so you couldn't see much. Then all of sudden, I saw movement. Soon, my eyes saw the pile of ants all over some dried up, crusty spill of curry from a few days before. Then, I saw a trail. All the way down the tablecloth, into the carpet, across the room, over Tanner's tummy time mat (ugh!), along the bottom of the couch, across the floor again, and into the bottom of the stairway. Ants are so stupid. They could have just walked along the wall behind the piano and gotten to the food in half the distance.

Then it was maggots. Yep. Jeremy found them in the bottom of our trash can outside. We kept smelling nastiness, and so he went in there to hose the thing out. He got a nice little greeting from hundreds of white, slimy maggots. Now, if I found those in the middle of the jungle, under a rock, that would be cool. But since they were in my trash can, right there on my back porch, I think it's disgusting!

So we thought we got rid of the maggots. And we did. They all turned into flies! Even though we hosed the bajeezers out of that trash can, dozens of maggots somehow stuck around and hatched. Every time we walked past the garbage and one of our plants, tons of flies would swarm around us. And of course, they got into the house, too. I tried some fly traps, but no success. They are still around, but not as much as before. 

Did I mention fruit flies? All over my fruit? Those little things are beasts. They get in your way so that it's impossible to eat or cook in peace! Luckily, our friend helped us make a cool trap for them, and it worked. So now I know how to get rid of them pretty good. And now we keep as much fruit in the fridge as possible.

Then we had some special crickets that found their way into our home. They are beautiful creatures and I love how they sing! But when they are in my house, on the same floor as my baby, I want them annihilated! I trapped one with a little bowl and just let it spend several days in torture before it finally starved to death. Serves him right!

I am so embarrassed to say that we found a cockroach in the laundry area. Totally weird because we haven't seen any signs of them, and this guy was just randomly chilling out in the middle of the floor one day. Gross!

Now don't worry. Even though all of the previously said critters are gone, we have a new menace to drive me nuts. I found a nasty spider on the porch with 3 marble sized bags in his web. YUCK! I'm not even sure if those things are egg sacks, but whatever it is, it's YUCK! We have to terminate them immediately, but I don't have the guts anymore to do it! 

What has happened to me?! I used to be so calm and collected- even fascinated- by God's little critters. I was the perfect woman to raise a boy because I was so tough. But I guess I can only prevail so long, maybe it's my Mama Bear instincts kicking in? At any rate, my wits are waning. By the time Tanner is a toddler, I'll be a wreck!!