Spooktacular Creepy Crawlies!

Who doesn't love the thrill and shriek season of Halloween? Busting out the old movie classics like Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown, Sleepy Hallow....etc. Bowls of candy, costumes, and jack-o-lanterns are everywhere! Apparently this season the "Trick or Treat" Memo was sent out to the local bug community around our casa. In the last 24 hours I have had some serious tricksters stopping by to cause a ruckus!

Ladies and Gentlemen, bugs of all ages..... allow me to introduce our first guest of the evening..... THE Fly Larva! Smaller than a grain of rice, but full of protein they are notorious for making your skin crawl!
These pesky little visitors stopped by our humble abode yesterday afternoon. Reagan and I were playing on the floor and I saw her reach for something and put it in her mouth. I scooted over to her, did the official mommy finger swoop to the mouth... and felt nothing! So I swoop again, and out pops this white dry grass blade looking thing.... and then.... it starts to MOVE. Boy this lil larva was on the move and at that second my jaw dropped and my heart sank into my belly. I grabbed a book near by, dropped it on the unsuspecting pest and whisked Reagan away to wash her mouth out. After that it was nap time so we went and laid down together and she fell asleep. I slipped her into her pack'n play in our bedroom, and then ran back to the living room to begin my hunt for the rest of these stupid maggots (because you know there is never just one!). I started in the living room where the first devious little pest was found. I only found one more. So I move my search to the kitchen, and there along the base boards I found a trail of dead larva! EWWWW! I checked our pantry for anything that may have accidentally been overlooked and gone bad, hoping to find the source of this infestation..... and nothing! I found a cluster of them near the dog food and water. I found another cluster under the garbage can, and near some boxes folded down for recycling. By this point I think my skin had grown legs and gone for a stroll. I busted out our All Floors Dyson, set it to tile and vacuumed the living room and kitchen twice. Then I switched to the hose and got in every nook and crany. I checked the baby monitor and the munchkin was still out, so I grabbed a mop and bucket, doubled my normal dose of Mr. Clean ... added scalding hot water and went to town on the floors. Even after all that I still found random stragglers in the kitchen well into the night. EWWW! Thankfully I think we got them all, because I have not seen a single one all day today. phew..... problem one solved!

Now..... entering stage left, I would like to welcome our second guest of the evening. The Wolf Spider.

Just when I thought our bug problem was over for the moment, this guy decides to join me in the bathroom this morning while I was doing my makeup! Many of you know I make all of Reagans hair bows, and I am known for putting rather large bows on her head.... well for comparison purposes .... lets just say this spider was bigger than quite a few of Reagans hair bows! In the nature of Halloween my blood thirsty self grabbed the closest large object, which happened to be a stainless steal dog bowl, and I whacked that spider into next Tuesday! DOUBLE GROSS! When I googled it, I learned that the wolf spider is kin to the camel spider, which explains its nasty large size, and crazy speed!!!

Needless to say, the pest control people are coming Saturday morning! I can only pray that between now and then all the other bugs get the memo that we do not have a 6 legged pest welcome mat! Intruders will be met with deadly force! :-)