The Ants Go Marching (Right on out of my house!)

So apparently we have a slight ant problem. This morning the girls were playing and noticed a few crawling on the carpet in our dining room. I picked them up and disposed of the tiny buggers and before I could even get back into the room, they found some more. And then some more... and some more. I got tired of disposing of them and quickly pulled out the vacuum and started sucking them up. Although that night I had visions of the little critters crawling back out!

But I knew that wouldn't solve the problem so after a while I turned to the trusty internet for advice. I am amazed at what you can find out there. I googled natural ant remedies and several options came up from apple cider vinegar to cinnamon to black pepper. Since they were crawling on our carpet I didn't want to use any liquids for fear of staining the carpet. So I went the black pepper route. You are supposed to sprinkle it at the spot where you think they are coming from and apparently they hate it so much that they will retreat, as in march right back to where they came from. Here is in in all of its glory...

And the verdict? Yeah, not so much. Although they would scatter far away from where I put the pepper, those little buggers are smart and figured out that if they crawl around it, it won't bother them. I guess I was wrong on where I thought they were coming from. But what I do know is that now I am sneezing like crazy from all of that pepper. I just can't win....