The Bugs...

Well I have to say this fall has blessed us with some tremendous weather. I was reminded the other day that last year our first snow came on October 10 and it didn't let up until April. Oh man. I had repressed that! Anyway, along with the great temps and mild wind...have come the bugs. Some days it was literally too buggy to be outside! Now we have had a great multitude of bugs all summer. I don't know why. I'm not a bug scientist. But I do know that it started in June with the mosquito. Millions arrived one day and it just wasn't worth being outdoors! Then it was the little yellow butterflies. Those were pretty and I felt like Cinderella singing in nature with the little guys fluttering all around:) Next, the fly. We have battled those all summer. Even Jude gets in on fly swatting (not sure he's ever actually got one yet!). But this fall came the Asian beetle. This thing is disgusting. There have been days that the minute you go outdoors they swarm you. Plus they bite, don't fly away when you move, and stink. And they get in the house like no other bug has yet. Maybe they are just trying to survive the changing weather, maybe they have a personal mission to make my house gross, I really don't know. All I know is that these guys, along with a few big black flies and box elder bugs, have become my enemies. I vacuum basically on a daily basis just because otherwise there are dead and alive bugs ALL OVER the windows and sills (our back porch is a buggy tornado!), and all over the house too. We (or I should say Gil) are doing all we can to prevent these suckers from getting in. Caulking, tightening stuff, other things (??). Everyday Gil comes home with a new idea for how to stop the bugs. Tonight the idea was to go up into the attic and start vacuuming (where I don't dare to go and where there are too many to imagine!). As he was doing this tonight he discovered a couple other friends...bats! Now, funny thing is I'm to the point with the bugs that I feel like welcoming these black furry creatures as friends (they eat bugs right!?). So now there is that to deal with (Gil's job again!). As for me, I guess I'll keep on a keepin' on with the vacuuming. Oh, and another bug on the rise out there, the Caterpillar! It just doesn't end...

Here are some attempts to show the bugs.

Here is another story altogether. So on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I teach Jude and I have developed a routine. He gets up at 8 or so, has breakfast, plays a little, then we go outside to do chores and play. When we come in around 10 it is time for me to get ready and for him to watch Sesame Street. This kid LOVES TV (as I've mentioned and as long as it's a kids show--how does he know that already?). And he really likes Sesame Street, so it works out usually. One morning he was being particularly quiet and when I went out to check on him this is what I found. The booster seat I purchased recently at a garage sale, and that we keep in the kitchen, was moved up onto the coffee table making a perfect little seat from witch to view Ernie! I snuck up to take this picture. He was really into it and didn't even notice me! Thank goodness for Sesame Street:)