Ants Go Marching Four by Four

The ants go marching four by four, boohoo, boohoo

The ants go marching four by four, boohoo, boohoo

The ants go marching four by four,

The little one stops to shut the door

And they all go marching in to the house

To get out of the heat, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Now that it's warming up outside, the ants are pestering us inside.

• They are in our kitchen;
• In Kirsten's room (well, they were until I threw away the problem source...an open bag of M&Ms)
• In the upstairs hallway;
• And I've even found a few crawling on Dave-o (probably because is so sweet).

Our pest control company is NOT doing their job.
I must give them a call in the morning.
I HATE ants in the house!

Ants

Legend says that San Jose, Ca was built on one huge ant hill. Native Northern Californians know and believe this to be true. I am one of those believers. 10 years ago, while living in Gilroy, Ca, we had a constant battle with keeping the ants out of our home. Today, we face the same challenge except in San Jose. After a month of living here, the ants discovered us. After all, we're such easy targets. Our kitchen is never immaculate (find me one that is). You can always find cereal and who knows what on the floor, dirty dishes in the sink, and misc. food particles scattered about the counter tops.

I am so tired of these ants. Just when we discover where they're coming from and block that entry, the ants find another way in. Finally, David decided it was time to bring out the POISON! Boric Acid. The name sounds deadly and dangerous, right? Well, it is for insects, but not for humans. In fact, it has a low toxic rating. Somewhere near that of table salt. Boric Acid, a white powder, is mined from the Mojave Desert in California and is nature's proven long-term treatment in eliminating Cockroaches, Palmetto bugs, Waterbugs, Ants, Silverfish, Carpenter Ants, and Termites. Here's what we did: Pour a teaspoon of boric acid, half teaspoon of plain sugar,and one teaspoon on warm water. Then mix the solution a bit and place near ant trails or near ant hives. The ants will take this to the hive and queen where all will share and die within a couple of days at the most. I am happy to say that it works and we are now ANT FREE!

The Peter Pan Syndrome

As a child, my sister and I spent many hours playing with snails that were easily found outside(we were really desperate for a pet). We had snail races and even made little houses for them out of scrap pieces of wood.

My children have either never seen a snail or have forgotten what they look like. In the 5 years that we lived in Houston, TX, we never saw a one. We are now back in the bay area and while visiting Grandma and Grandpa, the kids found a never ending supply of snails around their property. James, Steven, and Kirsten especially got a kick out of this new discovery. I have to admit that I felt like throwing up when I saw the pile of snails and slime that Kirsten had in her hands. I was surprised at my own reaction. Why did it bother me now? Snails were so much fun when I was a child. Sometimes it stinks being an adult. I think it would be nice to be like Peter Pan and never grow up.