Ben's first day of school

Today was Ben's first day of school. He was ready to go! He will go four days a week, from 9 until 2. Ben loves having lunch at school so this schedule is great for him. Also, it will prepare him for all day (7 hours) Kindergarten next year.

He was happy to go in this morning and happy when I returned to collect him. I didn't get too many details, though he did learn one thing: You have to be quiet in the hallway. It's a start!

And then there are fire ants...

So I've been sitting around freaking out about black widows (which have been spotted in and around my house), and mice (I'm pretty sure I've seen droppings in my garage), and cockroaches (my friend assures me they will come because I live in the South now). But fire ants didn't seem like such a big (no pun intended) deal.

But then I saw them in action. A little girl was attacked at the bus stop the other day. She was playing in some landscaping, and then screaming. I didn't actually see it happen, but the other parents who were there said her little hands were completely covered in ants. Nasty biting ants.

So, one more thing to worry about. The kids want to run and play in the yard, and who needs shoes? Its summer!

Everyone needs shoes! Not like they'll provide tons of defense, but still...

This incident at the bus stop happened the day after I had my house sprayed. I mentioned to the bug guy that I'd seen ants in my closet (along the perimeter wall on the ground floor) and he assured me that they would get sick and die. Then, while reading about fire ants, I learned that its harder for them to take over your yard if there are other types of ants, so you shouldn't kill the others. Oops. Too late.

When it comes to ants, you just can't win.

Quote from Ben

"If you're a wife, you need to get dinner ready as soon as people get home."

Now where did my son get an idea like that??

All moved in. Kind of.

Today we received our third and final shipment - our furniture, etc. from England. It came impressively fast, less than a month after it left our old house. I guess we are just not exciting enough for U.S. Customs to want to dig into our belongings. Fine with me!

We had five men here bringing things in, trying to figure out where to put them, unwrapping and assembling various pieces of furniture, and dumping (or lovingly unwrapping) the contents of all boxes. I think they were here about 5 hours, including a break for pizza.

So now I have lots of piles. All over my house.

Actually, I thought it would be worse, considering last week's shipment of stuff from my old basement, and no basement here in which to put things.

The thing I hate most is washing every. single. dish. before I put them away. They were clean when they were packed, but they're dirty now. Ugh.

I'll get right on that... In the morning...

But for now, a few photos:

Last week's delivery truck:

The truck on which my minivan traveled:
Kitchen/family room combo:
Dining room/main unpacking headquarters:
At least Brad has what he needs:

Susanna's first day of school

Yesterday was Susanna's first day of first grade. We got a chance to see the school and meet the teacher last week, but the whole thing is still very new for all of us.

Susanna was excited to go. I wasn't sure how things worked with dropping off, so I decided to park the car along the road and see how far I could get.

I made it all the way to the classroom. Apparently that's not a problem - I wasn't the only parent in the building. Susanna went right in and put her backpack and lunch on a hook and took her seat. She was fine - I was the one who wasn't quite sure...

I went back at the end of the day to pick her up and she was happy. I didn't get too many details but she said she had a good day and liked her teacher.

The second day of school went just as well as the first. And now she is riding the bus home in the afternoon, which she is very happy about. I plan to keep taking her in the morning, at least for a while.

Two days down... how many to go??

Pest control

The pest control guy came today. He sprayed inside and out.

I never really thought much about getting pest control services, especially on a preventative basis. I don't like the idea of chemicals inside or outside of my house. I don't like getting my lawn treated for weeds for the same reason (hence all the weeds instead of grass...) I want to let the kids play without worrying about it, and I don't want it being brought inside on shoes.

But... I also don't like bugs, spiders, mice, etc. Especially venomous ones. Especially inside my house.

So I called pest control and signed up for every-other-month service. They assured me (repeatedly, and without me asking) that the pesticides they use are perfectly safe for people and pets and will only hurt things with 6 or 8 legs. (They use sticky traps for mice, and promise to come collect any stuck critters immediately.)

After the guy sprayed along the baseboards inside, he ventured outside to see what awaited. The verdict was: several fire ant mounds, and a big, meaty black widow spider. He found it on a window and brought it to the door for me to see. It was bigger and fatter than I expected. After he showed me, he threw it on the ground (it was on a long-handled brush) and stepped on it.

I don't think I'll ever have sympathy for spiders again!

Y'all come see us real soon!

After I wrote my post last night, it occurred to me that if anyone was thinking of ever coming to see us, they might be a bit turned off.

So I just want to assure everyone that our house is totally safe - we won't let anything get you.

I vacuumed up the little male black widow, reducing the breeding population by one. Nothing to worry about now!

We have lovely guest accommodations and would love to have visitors. All are welcome. We are busy checking out local restaurants so we can take you to the best places. Soon we will start learning to cook local specialties (like tacos.)

So come on down to Texas - it's great!