An intimate family affair for hubby’s 38th birthday

On Thursday, March 18th, my dear hubby turned 38. I was actually planning to throw him a huge surprise celebration with just the kids at home. But the big plan didn’t actually materialize as he decided to come home for lunch on his birthday which left us with very little time to prepare for the big surprise. Nevertheless, we made do with what little time we had and did our best to throw him a surprise celebration.

A couple of days before his birthday (during my mini interrogation) he asked for nasi lemak for lunch – my nasi lemak which he claimed ‘berhantu’ and best in the world...hooray! He once asked what I did to the nasi lemak that makes it so good. My secret is simple – lots and lotsa loves are poured in it!

picture doesn't do justice to my nasi lemak...(another case of masuk bakul angkat sendiri...muahahaha)
He actually wanted sambal paru2 but I didn't have enough time to go to pasar & get some paru2

A week before his birthday, the preparation was already underway. The cake was ordered – I love chocolate cake and he, cheesecake, hence I decided to marry the two and ordered moist choc cake layered with cheese cake. Smart eh? I know...tak sia-sia belajar sampai university...muahahaha. The present was bought 3 days in advance. Thank God the kids could keep a secret. My second son made him a card and managed to keep it a secret too. He googled to learn how to make the card. Isn’t him a kid of the new millennium? I like the attitude...ask uncle google when in doubt! All in all, my kids really helped made the surprise celebration a top kept secret. Bravo team Fatzunnahar!

The card Kyle made for him



Right after he left for work at around 8.40am, the team started working. I left to pick up the cake with my eldest son & made a pit stop for some roti canai for breakfast on the way home. Right after breakfast, the real work started. Daniel suggested that we prepare canapé made of smoked salmon and baguette which he saw on AFC. I already had in mind easy peasy sausage roll, strawberry dip in dark chocolate and sandwiches. All ingredients were actually bought in advance but I did a good job by carefully hiding them in the fridge and other places that he couldn’t find.

Since Daniel came up with the idea of smoked salmon canapé, I put him in charge of preparing them. The result turned up pretty good. And since Kyle loves egg sandwich so much, he was trusted with preparing them. Needless to say he ended up eating most of them! Ariana was given a simple task of dipping the strawberry in the melted chocolate. All of course with my close supervision and help. Sophie got the credit for making the sausage roll even though she did even touch it, lucky baby...haha. My idea was each kid must ‘own’ something in the celebration. The must have their own role to make it a meaningful celebration for their beloved papa. It was a perfect homemade celebration – everything was homemade except for the cake. Should I have enough time I’d have prepared the cake myself.

The result of the team effort


Once everything was done, I asked everyone to take a shower and made them dressed in their best attire and waited for papa to come home. We hide behind the door just when he drove into the porch. Sophie joined in the fun too but she was making plenty of noise behind the door that my hubby could actually hear her from outside! She was so darn cute sitting on the floor making shhhhh sign and directing everyone to sit. Nevertheless, we yelled ‘surprise’ the second he opened the door and managed to surprise him...phewww!

Of all the birthday celebrations we had in the past, I’d say that this is by far the best ever. I’m wondering how on earth do I top this for next year...susah wooo. Perhaps I too must ask uncle google for some help...ahaks.

Happy birthday my darling...muahhhh!!! Hope you like the present...wanted to get you something else but budget tak cukup my dear. Love you to death sayang!