AUNTS or ANTS?????

ITS ANTS!!!! For the past week I have been noticing groups of ants in different spots throughout the house. First it started in the upstairs bathroom there was a pile of them and I followed a trail around the corner and into a corner of the wall....what did I discover, but a tiny little nerd candy. So I got the vacuum and swept the upstairs and threw out the tiny little nerd candy. About a couple days later I discovered some more in the half bathroom downstairs and I quickly swept them up and also at that time noticed this odd looking bug. It looked like an ant, but yet it had wings. Had never seen that before. Thought nothing of it, picked it up and flushed it down the toilet. The next day I found ants crawling on the floor in Caden's room and down the hall??? How can this be??? I just swept here a few days ago???? So I got the vacuum again and swept the upstairs once again. Weekend came and weekend went and no ants to be found.(that I noticed anyway). Well, boy was I wrong....I woke up this morning went to my closet to pick out some clothes and when I entered it I saw about 4 ants in the middle of the closet. I thought that was weird so I turned on the light for better seeing and discovered not 4 ants but 100's of them!!! They were crawling in and out of all our shoes, on the wash basket clothes that needed to be washed, and even a few on the hanging clothes!!! I immediately started crying and getting creeped out. I called nick and was crying uncontrolably to him asking him what to do, who to call, how to get rid of them, etc. I just wanted him to come home cause I couldn't deal with them. Of course he didn't and I had to step it up and take care of the situation at hand. I first called Orkin. They asked me what they looked like and how big they were so I went upstairs to get a closer look and measure them. I was bitten by one as I was measuring it and then looked down to see that 3 had already crawled up onto my pant leg!!! AGHHHH!!! I started to get choked up on the phone, but they told me they couldn't come till tomorrow. So I said "Id call them back if I needed them". I then called Terminex and the nice lady on the other end could tell I was freaking out and was so sweet and said she would get someone out at 3pm today!! I was willing to pay any price at this rate cause I just wanted them GONE!!! So anyway after measuring these guys, the lady on the other end thought maybe they might be carpenter ants. So after hanging up the phone I googled carpenter ants to find that if they indeed were carpenter ants we could have a problem. This type of ant burrows into wood(they do not eat wood), but chip it away and make lots of paths thru it causing wood to be ruined. They like damp wood and we have had leaking in our house a few times when it rains alot and I was certain it was due to that and we would have to have some guy come look at our roof and probably have it replaced or something crazy. I learned alot about carpenter ants today, but when the Terminex guy arrived and came upstairs to check out the closet infested with ants, he bent down to pick one up and immediately it bit him which he knew was NOT a carpenter ant but a FIRE ANT!!!! So you northerners might not know what those are, but they are ants that HURT when they bit you and can also cause paralitic(?)shock in small children (esp. if they are allergic to bee stings and such things like that). And for those southerner's you know how terrible this is!!! This terminex guy had never dealt with Fire Ants in the house before, and had to call his boss who had not dealt with them indoors either. But they had a spray that was to work on this type of ant and so he sprayed really well. So far they are slowly dying and I have the joy and privilage of cleaning out the closet and taking care of the shoes and clothes. The guy told me the best thing was to wash the lower hanging clothes(the ones that touched the floor or shoes) and to clean out those shoes cause you don't want to put your foot into a Fire Ant. I bagged all the shoes and put them into the freezer(thankfully we have a garage freezer that isn't full) to kill the ants. They stayed there for 6 hours:) Then I bagged all the hanging clothes which was 4 trash bags full and took them to the laundry room to be washed. I have to say after washing 4 loads and discovering that the ants were still alive even after a washing just made me sick, but after I stuck the clothes into the HIGH HEAT dryer they came out with not a single ant on them(so far:)). I have two more loads to do tomorrow, but for now the clothes are sealed tightly in trash bags in the laundry room. Oh What A Day!!!!! I think if I see any more ants I might be willing to just sell this house and buy a new one!!!! Or maybe it would be best to burn it down??? I know thats drastic, but its gone thru my head. These guys are so fast and get all over so quickly and I keep seeing them....kitchen curtain, bedroom curtain, climbing the door frame in the laundry room....you name it...its just out of control and I want them gone!! The terminex guy told me to call in 7 days if I still see them and they will come spray more. They said this will get under control and that they should and will get this problem solved. Now just HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE????? If you don't mind say a prayer or two that these ants go find another home to invade:)

Here is to you Mindy!!!

I know you told me not to post anymore about the good ol' Bruster's, but I could not resist these cute photos of Caden and his Bruster's Ice Cream. This past saturday was "wear your pj day" and recieve a FREE waffle cone. You really have to wear your pj's or you won't get it free....so we all trecked up to Bruster's...even my parents since they were in town got to enjoy this outing. They gave everyone who came with pj's a HUGE waffle cone even to the little guys like Caden!! I am hoping these pictures will entice friends and family to come visit us so we can treat you to a waffle cone at Brusters. You know you want to come again mindy....I know you do:)

Breaking out the SNOW boots!!!

Well guys, I know you will all laugh a bit, but its worth blogging about for those of us who live in the south:)!!!!

The weather forcast two weeks ago: "there is a chance of freezing rain tomorrow". School closed the night before!! Mind you it got to a low of 40 degrees.

The weather forcast today: 70% chance of snow showers in the mornings and a 50% chance of snow showers in the afternoon.

I wake up to my alarm at 7:30am to look out the window to see our grass covered in snow!! I was so excited. I quickly turn on the tv because Im certain school has GOT to be Cancelled!!! I watch in amazment as I do NOT see knox county as one of the school closings. Its got to be a mistake I think so I continue watching for another 15 minutes while getting dressed and ready to wake elijah for school. Still no closings for knox county. So we head out the door with 15 minutes to get to school (which we live 3 miles from the school). I can't even take the normal route because right outside our subdivision are three seperate cars in the ditch (none related to each other). So I back track which on a normal day adds another 4 miles to the route. I listen to the radio the whole way to the school thinking...they just have to cancel school sooner or later, TN people don't know how to drive in snow!!! It takes me 20 minutes to get Elijah to school after a few slips and slides on the hilly roads and slow traffic and lots of large flakes falling from the sky. I was prety shaken up...I mean I can drive in snow, but you add the hills to the snow and I am not so good at driving in it. Needless to say Elijah was 10 minutes late to school this morning. He happily bounced into school all the while saying "when I get home Im playing in this snow". I reminded him we live in TN and it most likely will be gone by then, but we will see.

I pick elijah up from school and he exclaims "the snow is still on the ground"...."can I play in it when I get home". I look around in confusion at what he considers snow and say "if you think there is enough to play in"!!! So I bundle the kids up in their winter attire (snow coats, boots, mittens, etc) and shoosh them out the door and run to get my camera:) I figured "all" the snow they wanted to play in out back was worth a picture. You got to just love kids and how snow, is snow to them!!! Along the fence line was the ONLY snow left in our back yard!!!

There was this little strip of "snow spots" near the fence that hadn't melted yet and so they were bound to get a good taste of it before it was gone!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!!

My dear hubby had his 28th birthday yesterday!!! He's about to hit the good 30's soon:) We went out to eat at Applebee's for his birthday (and yes we took the kidos with), but enjoyed our time celebrating his day and then drove over to our Famous Bruster's Ice Cream!!! OH YUMMM!!!!! Ok, some of you have never had this ice cream and don't know what you are missing, so if you are a fan of ice cream like I am you might just want to come visit us:) We always take our company/visitors to this ice cream place. Its fabulous!! Anyway, just wanted to WISH my BABY a HAPPY HAPPY 28th BIRTHDAY!! I Love You!!

Why No Recent Post???

Because life around here is slow and there is nothing exciting to post about!!! I know, boring.
Last week my dear hubby was gone from Monday to Saturday morning due to work. So it was the boys and I all week long...which did indeed get quite long!!! We have however been very blessed to have family stop in to see us. My parents came for a night while making their yearly trip to Florida for 3 weeks. We also had nick's parents, sister and her two kids for an extended weekend over Presidents Day Weekend, and this friday my parents are traveling back thru on their return trip to Indiana so at least I have had a few things to look forward to. Nick is going to be super busy with work and the new expansion that is going to take place in a few weeks, which means I will basically be a single parent. SOOO, over Elijah's school spring break the boys and I plan to head to my parents for 10 days!! Yippeee....I can hardly wait.

Yeah thats about it with us....maybe soon I'll be able to post something fun that we have done, or enjoyed doing. I'll keep you posted:)

Dinner and a Show

Well my dear husband got me tickets to a Valentine's Dinner and a Show. It was last night and we had a nice evening away from the boys. We had a candle lite dinner and then a concert done by the new pop artist Britt Nicole. It was pretty empty as Im sure most "new" artist's concerts are, but she did a great job and needs to keep up the work she is doing for the Lord. Here are a few pictures that nick took(we couldn't use flash so they are not the greatest).

7 Facts About Me

I got this idea from a friend(neighbor) and thought Id give it a try and thought it might be fun if you all wanted to do it too, so I can enjoy getting to know my blog buddies even better:)

Fact 1: Since Nick and I have been married we have moved 6 times. From Cincinnati OH, to Lafayette IN, to a new place in Cincinnati OH again, to a new place in Lafayette IN again, to Mahomet IL, and finally to Knoxville TN.

Fact 2: The first thing I notice about someone when I meet them is thier hair. Im always out seeking for a new hair style(this goes for girls only of course).

Fact 3: I didn't play sports in high school, but I did sing in the choir called "Melodyaires".

Fact 4: I love to be outdoors. Whether that be swimming, water skiing, snow skiing, gardening, bungee jumping, hiking, boating, camping, canoeing, or just laying in the sun:)

Fact 5: My dream is to build our own house on a farm (lots of acres) out in the country, have a few small pets(outdoor of course), with a swimming pool out back and lots of room for the boys to play.

Fact 6: Before I had children I despised chocolate and shopping??? I know, what was wrong with me???

Fact 7: I have a phobia of Frogs. I would gladly take a spider(as long as its not a black widow) over a frog.

Have a wonderful day y'all.