Every year my husbands birthday comes and goes and im left feeling like I haven’t REALLY done my wifely duty and spoilt the man as he so rightly deserves. This year I wanted to do something a little different and really blow his mind by going the extra mile.

And so on Friday as the clock struck 6pm we embarked on a birthday weekend he will hopefully not forget in a hurry. We began a birthday weekend lavishing him with 35 spoils, gifts and acts of love to celebrate his 35 years on the planet.

I actually got this idea from a from a friend Katie who did it for her husband Ryan and I loved the sentiment behind it. I think it’s also such a great idea to do as your kids get older and as their number increases. The wonderful thing about it is that it puts emphasis on actual acts of love rather than just presents. So if, for example your child is turning five you could give them one special toy followed by four acts of love:  pancakes for breakfast, a movie, a new hand knitted scarf and a little party for their friends.

Anyway, I thought I would share the 35 gifts we did for my hubs and hopefully inspire you to take on the challenge for your significant other or who knows maybe drop them a hint for your own. It’s the most fabulous way to connect as a family and teach your children the joy of giving, and not just presents but the the time that goes into making and preparing things. They loved the whole process and the waiting to surprise dad with another gift at different intervals.

The point is to make the person feel so loved and spoilt over the few days that their birthday falls and remind them of just how special they are to you. As parents, its our chance to give the person in our life a little bit of time off from the crazy and pretty much let them do nothing! So here we go!

1. A bottle of MANLY bubble bath to enjoy a candlelit bath in peace. I know some men don’t like the idea of a bath, but my man is secure enough in his masculinity to enjoy a good soak! I ran him a bath, lit some candles, put some music on and shut the door so the kids wouldn’t disturb him.
2. A bottle of incredible Wolftrap wine to enjoy with the dinner I had been preparing for most on Friday afternoon.
3. His favorite deboned lamb shank with cauliflower and pumpkin squash served with green beans.  
   
4. A box of caramel lindt chocolates.  
   
5. A Box framed picture of his family.  
   
6. A movie of his choice . while we often enjoy the same kind of movies, there are certain movies I couldn’t be asked to watch, so this was a free pass to hire any boy movie his little heart desired. It ended up being Casino which as I soon discovered should have been called Sharon stone, the junkie freaks out for two hours and screams non stop Anyway, each to their own.
7. A foot massage while we watched Sharon completely lose the plot and freak out again and again and again.
8. A sleep in on Saturday morning. For those ho know my darling husband know he like a kid on christmas when his birthday comes round each year. So while he couldn’t really sleep very late the boys biggest gift to both of us was sleeping til 8am!
9. A card made with so so much love from the two monkeys who are his sons.
10. Noah wrapped up in all his quirky deliciousness.
11. Brody wrapped up in all his squidgy delight. (the nice thing about these last two is that they are 100% free but also 100% the best of their kind)
12. Breakfast in bed consisting of eggs, bacon, mushrooms, tomato and toast. Served with a double bagged rooibos tea.
13. A stag head for the wall. He has always wanted one and secretively so have i!!
14. AN hour of undisturbed music time. If theirs one thing my hubs loves to do in his spare time, its download and listen to music. It seriously borders on obsession. But I love it that as a dj in his spare time he is so passionate about music. He is pretty talented too so I would be robbing the world of his amazing gift. So an hour of guilt free music time without a nagging wife and kids, was like hitting the jackpot.
15. There are some things better left unsaid/left to the imagination so il just leave this one saying it was the thing every man loves most. The plan was to get some sexy new underwear and to entice him to the bedroom. But with two kids in the house we all know that didn’t happen!
16. A packet of his favorite spicey Dorito chips.
17. More chocolates. Because you can never have enough chocolate.
18. A pack of his favorite Jack Black craft beers. The way to every mans heart right?
19. The best sliced beef biltong in town
20. Some peace and quiet to watch another movie on the couch. While I had planned a picnic to get us all out the house, the weather did not work in our favor so he did what every parent wishes they could do on a rainy miserable day – snuggle up on the couch with his beer and biltong.
21. An afternoon nap. How lazy right? How freaking delicious right!!??
22. Not letting him change Brody’s nappy, insisting he take the day off from all parental duties. The biggest act of love if you knew the stench of a pooh this kid makes.
23. An afternoon tea with family with a home-made apple pie made by the boys and I. Served with clotted cream ice cream of course!!
24. A restaurant food app given by his in-laws. ( I so score too right?)
25. A gift from my brother and sister-in-law.
26. A small bottle of jagermeister (a little pre party toast)
27. Me in a little black dress. I usually would have worn jeans!
28. A dinner (309 mild) with all his favorite people.
29. A party he will never forget. From dinner we all walked to Era where we behaved like teenagers til the wee hour of the morning.
30. A party/im too old/exhaustion hangover.
31. Ok here’s when things started going south. I started slacking. Having gotten to bed at 4 am and the previous days efforts catching up with me, the chances of pancakes happening were as slim as him eating them. The biggest gift was my mom keeping the boys for the morning so we could sleeeeeeeeep!!
32. KFC for lunch. Most of you will know that I don’t allow KFC in my house and the boys haven’t ever eaten it, I gave in and allowed him a little street wise two, a burger and fries. I know more than ever now why I don’t allow the stuff in my home. Il say it again, each to their own.

Ok confession time:. With him leaving for JHB yesterday at 3.30 combined with the fact that we were exhausted from being out all night I wasn’t able to execute the last three. I have promised him an IOU for the rest.

33. Pancakes and tea in bed
34. A cinema movie date
35. A back massage before bed.

So there you have it, 35 gifts and acts of love to celebrate the man who I have had the privilege of knowing for 13 of the 35 years he has been on earth. He is the kindest soul you will ever meet, the funniest guy I know and the most wonderful human being to be doing life with.

One thing is certain though, I wont be doing it again in a hurry, although lets face it, if I plan to do it again it’s a good idea to do it before he turns 60. There would have to be a whole lot more XXX’s in that one!!!

Hi I’m Leigh! Did you enjoy reading this post? I really hope so and would love you to stick around a little longer! Please feel free to browse my blog for other articles or to keep up with all the latest news and to be the first to hear about some great competitions, come and find me me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also email me directly at leeloobaggins@hotmail.com or simply subscribe below and never worry about missing out!