Tonight before bed Ben, Collin, and I sat down to put together their respective wish lists for Santa/Mom & Dad. Even though Ben is now 5 this is really the first time we have done this. On Saturday we went to the mall and as usual Ben asked for everything under the sun. We kept telling him, "That would be a good thing to put on your wish list". By Sunday he had it down. We went somewhere on Sunday and the questions changed to, "hey daddy, do you think I should put this on my Christmas list?". So without further delay, here are the boys carefully thought out and diverse lists.
Ben's List1. Mcdonald's cash register - Ben and Collin have been obsessed w/ playing McDonald's lately. They pretend that they are McDonald's employees and take your order, make your meal and then serve it to you. Either we should be worried that they are setting their sights low or we should reconsider how often we are getting them McDs.
2. Starbucks Frappacino Insulated Cup w/ red and white candy cane straw - If you know Carrie then this is really not a surprise.
3. Vampire costume? - No clue but apparently Ben has been pretending that the big toy box in our basement is his own personal coffin and will clear out the toys and rise up out of his coffin just like the Count himself. Don't ask me how he even knows that this is what vampires do. He's obsessed w/ wearing capes so I guess this make sense.
4. Star Wars battle droid ship
5. Superman Xbox game
6. Darth Vader doll from Blockbuster - We saw this Monday night while getting a movie. He loves Darth Vader. He wears a cape. Enough said.
7. Star Wars Wii game
8. Batman cartoon Wii game - I don't even think this exists but he got stuck on Wii games for a minute.
9. Blue Batman costume - He identifies Batman by the color of his costume. He's got the black costume from the recent movies but his collection is not complete w/o the traditional "blue Batman" costume from the cartoons.
10. Spiderman movie - We recently let him spend some of his "allowance" money on a used Spiderman video game for $9 bucks so he's got Spiderman on the brain. He's not a huge fan of Spiderman but since he doesn't wear a cape this shouldn't come as a surprise.
Collin's List1. McD's cash register - See #1 above and there is NO WAY we only get one of these. It would not be good.
2. Hot chocolate with cream - Collin really just thought we were talking about things we like so this naturally makes the list.
3. Spiderman - clearly influenced by his older brother
4. Upsy Daisy w/ bed - This is some character from a REALLY strange children's show that comes on here in Canada. They both have watched this but Collin loves this show. Trust me, this show is strange. With names like Macca Paka and Iggle Piggle how can it not be?
5. Hamburger - We really don't eat McDonald's every day. Seriously, we don't.
6. Cartoon - Why not?
Not bad for a first list. Ben's got a couple of items on there that he has been talking about for some time but for the most part these were really random and funny. Now we'll just have to wait and see what Santa will bring.
EB
We had a great Thanksgiving dinner tonight with some of our friends here in Calgary. I really missed my family this year...and all through the day I sort of went about it feeling a little sorry for myself....but having these ladies over and their families truly made up for it! Erin and Nicola are American, so they were in the same boat as we were as far as not having relatives around. Brandi, was our token Canadian who had never been to an American Thanksgiving feast! I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends! I think I'll take these girls with me! Thanks for celebrating this American holiday with us!!
Now for what actually happened.... 
