009 saves the day!

One of my favoirte Christmas trap stories happened when KP5 and KP6 were still very small. My parents used black thread and jingle bells. They were SO hard to see in the dim light! We weren't sure where my parents were sleeping so we didn't want to use any lights that might wake them up, but touching a SINGLE black thread could be very noisy!  

As we approached the stairs we realized that the concentration of theads increased. For about an hour we tried to find a way through the complicated web, but eventually we realized that our biggest problem was that my little sister and brother were too small to accomplish some of the difficult stretchs, and leaps our plan would take.

It was then that I noticed a small hole between the landing and the stairs that would allow us to get through easily. We would have to climb down the stairs by standing on the railing (my parents would have horrified to see us doing this) and then crouch through the hole simutameously twisting so that we would land feet first on the other side.... but again, HOW to get the kiddies though?

The answer is simple: I did the entire thing with KP5 on my back. That's right. Then I went back and did it AGAIN with KP6.

I felt like a War hero going back for a fallen comrade. In fact, I am pretty sure that I was!

The score!
Kids -  9
Parents - 1

You are going to have to step it up a notch from now on Parents! Good luck next year!

Video Camera

We were watching home-made videos yesterady for my brother-in-law's birthday. It was so much fun! Oh what would I give to have 4 kids on Christmas eve this year? My husband and I are determined to video tape them trying to get through the trap!

Anyone else thinking the same thing?

Popcorn Balls

Apparently my popcorn ball recipe is famous! I have gotten TWO requests for the recipe since I made them for my cousin's baby shower! both requests were from Palmers... I got this recipe from my mother, who says she got it from her husband's mom...who is a Palmer! My mom got this recipe from my grandma when my dad said it was one of his favorite Christmas treats! Therefore I will dub this a Palmer Christmas Tradition!

1 Stick of butter
1 Bag of Marshmallows
3 bags of microwave popcorn (I like to use food kettle corn)
Food Coloring!

1. Melt the butter and marshmallows in a large pan (yup just like Rice Krispy treats!)
2. Mix in food coloring
3. Mix in popcorn!
4. Roll into balls
5. Allow popcorn balls to harden on wax paper!

Enjoy!

"We were so sneaky!"

The Christmas before I got married was one of the best for us kids though. Brandon was married and he and Darci said they were gonna spend Christmas with her family. Heather and Aaron were in Texas or with his parents so supposedly it was just Taylor and I. Taylor would sleep in his room and I would sleep in mine. Taylor and I decided to even things out a bit by taking all of the jingle bells in the whole house and stashing them away so they couldn't be used in the trap. (Anyone who has been through a Christmas trap knows that jingle bells are the bane of ones existence through these times.)

We went through every decoration with a bell on it from the Christmas garlands, wreaths, squeeze-me singing Christmas toys, both Christmas trees, to my moms craft stash. By the time family prayers came around we thought we had gotten them all, but as we knelt down, Taylor and I both realized at the same time there was ONE jingle bell at the very top of our 12 foot tree. How were we gonna get that without being seen or our plan being figured out?? As a look out for him, I stood guard after the parents dispersed and he got the last one. After getting ready for bed and feeling very confident that jingle bells wouldn't be a part of this Christmas, I got a text from Brandon to call him when we were getting ready for bed.

I called him and he and Darci were waiting outside. They had a plan. they would come in my window and wait for me to distract my parents somehow, then Brandon would sneak in to Taylor's bathroom and sleep in the bathtub. The tricky part was that that bathroom was right next to my parents room and the office my Mom was working in all night. Mom even went in there once to wash her hands or something. At least she didn't go to the bathroom!! Awkward!! Brandon kept texting us updates through the night how he was doing. It was really funny. Unfortunately, I cant remember if he was discovered or not, or even if we got through that Christmas, but I just remember feeling really cool because we were so sneaky.

Entrapment!

Here's a good example of my dad being really sneaky- he set up a panel of sheets in the hallway blocking our view to the next segment of the trap. the next segment was lined with two big mirrors on either side, and red lines criss-crossing back and forth between them. come to realize, my dad was going all out with laser technology. we couldn't believe it!! Lasers??? Then we realized how expensive something like that would be and pulled back the sheet to find laser pointer key chains taped to the wall. Good one dad!

-From B&C W.

Tip #2- Baby Monitors Tricky and Easy!

From the B&C C. Family!
   
My dad once used this trick to get an unfair advantage over us! He bought a baby monitor and put it next to our door. We were expecting the usual tricks behind the bed room door. But he didn't have to trap us in- just set that baby up outside the door and wait for us to start trying. As soon as we woke up to start figuring out how to get out, he beeped through and told us we were caught. Not fair dad!

Baby's First!

A fun video from the B&D C family! So much fun to have video of a baby's first Christmas trap!  Let us know what you think!

Christmas Trap? or Mouse Trap?

One of my favorite trap memories occurred shortly after Jared joined our family. We kept on talking up how easy it was going to be to get through my parents traps and that we would have them out of bed bright and early Christmas morning. My mom apparently got intimidated and came up with a dangerous idea.

Hurt like the Dickens

Christmas morning came and all of us advanced through two of the three doorways that led to the living room where the presents awaited us. We crept through the kitchen that led to the entryway of the living room but in the dark I could vaguely see that there were several spots scattered all over the tile floor. On closer examination my suspicion was validated, mouse traps. I never thought that my mom would risk snapping our toes off on Christmas day. Can you imagine how crazy my mom would sound at the emergency room? "Ya my husband and I set up mouse traps around our house to make sure that our kids didn't start Christmas to early and now our child is missing his big toe." Upon this discovery, I turned around and quietly whispered to my siblings, "Hey, watch out for the mouse...SNAP!"

I didn't even get my sentence off before the fury was unleashed. Apparently, not only were the traps on the floor but they were also sitting on the counter tops of tables and chairs, especially the one that I had just rested my hand on. Hurt like the dickens. My mom's rationale for using the traps was that rat traps were the dangerous ones, not mouse traps and one good snap of a mouse traps would probably be enough to wake her up. She woke up alright but it was the high pitched girlish screeching of my voice that did it. Turns out my mom cheated and fell asleep in the living room wrapping presents anyways so we didn't have to go back to bed.

-From the D&K H. Family! (Not the older D&K, but the younger D&K)

The Door: Dun, dun duuuuunnnnn.

Here is a little post from a "Trapee!":

Usually when people asked about the Traps my family has done, they expect to hear about flashy stories, with trap doors and large items that might fall from the ceiling  (not unlike an Indiana Jones movie). What they fail to realize is that more often than not, the most difficult part about a trap is the most simple part.

I think all my cousins would agree with me that the hardest part of the trap is opening the bedroom door! As a Kid we tried everything, from mirrors and secret cameras just to be able to see what was on the other side of the door. Once, my parents tied our door to another door, so that if we opened it, it would slam the other door shut knocking over a very precariously stacked pile of metal tools and cookie sheets. Sometime my dad would tie elastic to the door, so that when we started to open it, we would feel the pressure and stop. We would then spend the next 45 minutes trying to figure out what contraption existed on the other side.

My favorite trick my dad every played on the door was to disconnect the door handle backset so that we would twist and twist the door handle and it would never open the door. It took us 2 hours to get past this extraordinarily simple trap. The next year, we were so frustrated with the door handle that we took off every door handle in the entire house and hid them, a week before Christmas. Yes... that's right you could not lock the bathroom doors, but it was so worth it.  

Tip #2 - Want them dead? Use black thread!

Tip #2- From the B&D Family!
Black thread makes a wonderful booby trap. Usually in our traps, the only lights on are the Christmas tree lights.  Because the house is so dim, it is almost impossible to see the black thread. We will tie them to light switches and noise makers (forks balanced over cookie sheets, jingle bells, and  tools) so that the lightest bump will set them off! This is a classic move for a Christmas trap, that are kids still belly ache about to this day!  

My very first Trap

I am in oldest in my family, so I remember the very first trap that my family did. I was 4 so my parents made it very easy for me. Using ~10 paper bags from the grocery store, they stood them up and stacked them in the doorway several layers tall!

I remember taking one look at the trap and breaking down into tears! Apparently, to a 4-year-old, a wall of paper bags can be somewhat intimidating. Especially on Christmas morning! After a little while, my dad took down the top bag and poked his over the top and asked me "What's wrong Kara?" I have no idea what I responded, but I remember laughing as I ran through the bags knocking them down in one fell swoop!

I don't think that I have slept one wink on a Christmas Eve since then.

Tip #1 JiggleBells + Balloon = impossible

Here it is! The very first tip from the Z&K Bloomer Family!

Try putting multiple jiggle bells inside of a balloon! Jingle bells are easily silenced by cotton balls or tight grips by little hands. But who can silence a couple of jingle bells bouncing merrily around inside of a balloon?

We also used tape with our balloons. The balloon will pop if you even think about ripping the tape off! This is a more advanced trick, for your older kids, but it will make your Christmas trap a real doozy!