Charles is 40 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Yes, that was 40 exclamation points)

I threw Charles a surprise 40th birthday party of Friday night.  I was surprised that I was able to keep it a secret until almost the end because both of the girls knew, and Leah does not have a reputation for being the best secret keeper.  Being the great detective that he is, he had figured out that something was going on, but I convinced him it was just dinner with a few friends.  Though he hates surprises and being the center of attention, he said he really enjoyed himself.  This is a picture of him with his cookie cake (his favorite)! 

The night before, on his actual birthday, the girls and I made him these cupcakes.  They were chocolate with a white chocolate rasperry frosting and sprinkles.  I have been wanting to try the new Duncan Hines Custom Creations Frosting where you start with a base and add a packet of flavoring to it.  They have all flavors from bubble gum to cotton candy to caramel and so on.  I thought the rasberry would be a good compliment to the chocolate.  Well, the flavor was good, but the consistency was yuck.  These make a much better filling than a decorator icing.  As a matter of fact, I used the caramel as the filling in the bottom tier of the Mickey Mouse cake (but I also mixed that with marshmallow fluff).  Either way, the flavor is good but I wouldn't recommend decorating cupcakes or a cake with it.