NOOOO, ants in the cupboard!!!

When it is hot and dry and summer is taking place, ants come in the house. They usually make their debut on the counter, I put out some ant traps, and they disapear. Not this time. Here is what happened this evening.....

I was sitting on the couch in the living room, talking with Paul and my brother Bob. I told the kids since they had cleaned up the kitchen so nicely after dinner, they could pick anything they wanted for dessert, which was easy for me to say, since we don't have all that much to choose from right now....anyway, they had a box of chocolate chip cookies....I asked for a few (they are really small)....I set the box on the notebook on my lap while I took three cookies....I popped one in my mouth, set the other two down on the couch (I am the mom, so I can break the no-eating-on-the-couch rule)....when I handed the box back to Sonja, I was horrified to see tiny baby ants dancing all over my notebook...I got up and went in the kitchen, where the little ones were sitting at the table, dipping their cookies in milk...I peered into the box, and it was crawling with ants!!! Since I am so calm cool and collected, I shrieked and started spitting the cookie mush in my mouth into the garbage and telling them not to eat the cookies....the poor kids! oh my goodness, ants in their tummies! blah. yuck.

The good news is that there is no sign of them in any other cupboards, so we just cleaned that one out thouroughly and sprayed some special ant spray that is supposed to be safe for kitchen use in there.....we threw away alot of stuff (there were ants in the shortening!) Tomorrow, we are going to spray around the foundation of the house again...and check again to make sure they aren't in the other cupboards.

So my brother Bob was here talking with us about the grill, he is the main food buyer and we were just hashing out who was getting what, and doing some final plans...and my other brother, Tom, stopped over to pick up his son Luke, who stayed here for the weekend.....he came in for a little visit, and it was nice. I had to say a quick goodbye and run to the nearby town to get some eggs and bread and milk, before it closed. I took Jonathan and Sonja with me, then we headed over to pick up Samuel, who had spent the night at our friends' house. Mr. and Mrs. S. both came out to talk to me when I stopped there, and I realized as I drove away how lucky I am to have such good friends, and family.

Things I have learned today:

1. Ants are smart and despicable. I hate them because I ate them.

2. Jonathan and Sonja get silly just like my little brother and I used to....they were horrible in the store. Well, not really horrible, just silly.

3. When the grill runs out of gas it won't just magically work because I forgot it was out of gas. But chicken marinated in lemon pepper sauce still tastes good roasted in the oven.

4. I have a busy week ahead of me. I have meals to prepare for next week, and clothes to pack, Joseph's driving test to get through, more shopping for the grill...and since I had my dear daughter and good friend Mirielle here this past week, and she is gone now, it will seem busier and somehow lonley...

5. When I let kids use my Dyson vacuum cleaner, bad things happen. Someone vacuumed up a toothbrush. I mean, a toothbrush? And you guessed it, NO ONE DID IT!!!

6. We are running out of freezepops.

7. Camille should still take naps. She walked in front of Charlotte Claire's swing this afternoon and got kicked in the eye, she cried and fell asleep in my arms. I was too nervous to put her in her little bed, so I held her for an hour or so and let her sleep...which was a huge sacrifice, I had to read my book and relax while the world went on around me....Margaret put the rice and water and butter and salt in the pan and turned it on, and put the chicken in the oven...then Joe came along, I had him open four cans of corn and put it in the microwave...Evelyn set the table....by the time Miss Camille woke up, eye looking a bit dark and puffy, but otherwise fine, dinner was ready!