clowns for christmas.

Let me tell you about my favorite Christmas gift this year.

But I will have to take you way, way back . . . 

~

Back when we was kids, we had a birthday clown.

It was a small wooden clown doing the splits.

It had Velcro on the front, and we had coordinating little wooden presents with each of our names on them and when it was your birthday the birthday clown held your name present.

And it had a button on the back that would play "Happy Birthday" when you pushed it.

It was a big deal.

My brother's birthday is 3 days before mine, so it is a running joke that I stole his birthday clown glory because as soon as his party was over, his name came down and mine went up.

That birthday clown was at every birthday celebration during our childhood.

My mom hand-painted it herself.

It was one of those staples of childhood you don't realize how much you love until its gone . . .

~

We found all sorts of birthday clown evidence in our scrapbooks.

Here is my oldest brother Michael giving him bunny ears.

Or maybe he is doing a peace sign?

 Second brother Jason delighted with his cupcakes as the clown looks on.

 He hangs in the background as I show off my Little Miss Cupcake.

 Baby Brady's first birthday.

 See?

It was a big deal.

A few years ago, we were all talking and someone brought up the birthday clown and said we should bring it back out. My mother nonchalantly said "Oh, I think I gave it to DI."

Ummm . . . what?

Frequently over the last years we have given her a hard time over killing the birthday clown.

I'm mentioned it on my blog a few times before.

On my sister-in-law's blog, she talked about my brother's birthday and said he told her "something about some clown".

And we joked about how mom destroyed our childhoods.

Someone even brought it up on Christmas Eve.

I think she got sick of us.

But seriously.

Give away the birthday clown?

How could she?

~

Yesterday morning was Christmas morning.

And not one of us expected to find what Santa brought us:

 My mom found the birthday clown pattern.

She had my cousin cut the appropriate shapes of wood.

She painted three birthday clowns (one for each married kid and our new families).

All without any of us suspecting.

They even have the button on the back that plays "Happy Birthday" when you push it.

It took her months of work.

~

I'm pretty sure she did it just to shut us up.

But it just might be the best Christmas present I've ever gotten.

~

 We hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours.

 

xoxo.