Boxelder Nightmare

So the newest homeowner adventure we've been battling recently is the discovery that we're cohabiting with a bunch of boxelder bugs. And by bunch, I mean like... tens of thousands of boxelder bugs.  Do you know boxelder bugs?  I didn't know them til we moved here.  They look like this:

like roaches. with red trim. oh and they fly.
all togther now: *ew*

You might remember from Nathan's tick story that I'm not in love with bugs. That they make me cry.  And throw up.  And feel all panicky inside (and out). I'm a smart rational confident adult, but I do not do bugs.

We had noticed them outside the house sometimes, but didn't pay them any particular notice. Just another of the bajillions of bugs that crawl on our planet that I try not to think about too much.  Then a few weeks ago I saw one on Charlotte's bedroom wall and (calmly, I swear) asked Mark to kill it. But then we saw another.  And another. And pretty soon we had killed about forty. It was not a good start to date night.

Several days, several google hours, and one visit from our pest people later, we had more info.  Boxelder bugs, attracted to boxelder trees (note to self: find all boxelder trees in our neighborhood and cut them down), don't bite or eat plants, love warmth and sunshine. 

So they're mostly harmless except that as the weather gets cooler and they have a hard time finding their warmth and sunshine outside, they think they should move into our house to get it.

HA HA NO.

Our pest people brought a big truck and motor and spray system and ladders and attacked the house with poison.  They were liberal in the application. I told them I was more freaked out by the bugs than the chemicals.  I might or might not have stood outside crying and saying die mother f-ers while they were spraying.  (Not my finest housewife moment.) (Bugs bring out the worst best of my profanity abilities.)

(I also might or might not have spent an afternoon huddled in the kids' bathroom with two terrified children and one hungry baby after bugs were spotted in all their bedrooms and naptime just wasn't happening.  That day we were four out of four for people at our house crying.  Not my finest mommy moment.)

Charlotte's bedroom window. This is the stuff of horror films.

So basically they swarm around the southwest side of our house (the bonus room downstairs and Charlotte's room upstairs), where there is lots of sun in the afternoon.  And then come nightfall, they apparently find ways into the house to keep warm.  Dormer closets, crawl spaces, window frames, our baby's bedroom. Their numbers do seem smaller now, but I'm not sure whether that's because the spray was effective or they're just staying in the house walls now.

Excuse me while I throw up.  Again.