Spring must be here...

Two days ago we found our first tick of the season, and today the ants arrived in my kitchen. I wish there was a way to get rid of them without having to poison our whole yard and both the animals. But there is not, so I will just need to invest in a flea collar and some Frontline. Robert has some fertilizer/insecticide that worked great last year, so we will do it again this year. Ugh. Why did God make ticks? They are one of the grossest things that I can think of. Also, why is our yard so full of creepy crawly stuff? What about it is so appealing?