The Trap was set....but did we catch the Leprechaun??

As a child I remember little green footprints trailing through our house leading us to some treat that the leprechaun would leave behind. Excitement would fill the air when we would find what he left for us.  Some legends state that if a leprechaun like you then he will take you to his gold. Others state that you have to catch the leprechaun before he will take you to his gold.


Before I became a mom, I knew that I wanted to make holidays special like my mom did for us. To create the magic, that little kids minds flourish on. To use creativity and imagination to create a world, a world where rules like reason, reality and even gravity don't apply.  A world filled with excitement and anticipation.

One thing my kids love to do is to create a trap, in hopes that they might catch the leprechaun and he will have to take them to his gold.  If you know my kids they love crystals and gold, and yes money too. So, to think about just having to catch a tiny creature, and having it have to take you to a big pot of gold is definitely intriguing.  So each St. Patrick's Day even we create a trap.  This was our trap this year:

My kids were sure we were going to catch the leprechaun this year. My youngest even said a prayer asking that they would catch the leprechaun and that he would be able to take it to school to show his friends.  Then when he woke up he ran and told his brothers that he thought they had caught it, because the box in the trap had fallen down.  This is what we found:

So, as they stood around the trap in anticipation, they all volunteered me to lift up the box to see if it was in there. But once again we came up empty, no leprechaun!!  We always have such kind leprechauns that visit our house though, they always leave something behind on their way out.  This year our leprechaun left us a trail of Trix crumbs and peanut butter cups, Pot's of gold (peanut butter cups and gum), "golden" chips, and rainbows of candy. He also left us a message that says, "U Can't Catch Me".

Well, there's always next year!!