candyland

we have a new addiction in our house. no, i'm not referring to ben and jerry's cinnamon buns ice cream which is incredible (yeah, i didn't think so either when i first heard it, but trust me). i'm talking about candyland. ella can't seem to get enough of it. we maybe played 80 times today.

ella's goal is not to win. actually, winning is the last thing on her mind. her goal is that every "fruit" person is drawn. and it doesn't matter who draws them or even if she draws plumpy, located at the beginning and i draw queen frostine, located near the end. she is excited either way. she even does the candyland dance around the room where she marches and pumps her arms up and down saying, "hooray! hooray! hooray!"

ella plays candyland with me, with daddy, and with any poor soul who comes in our house and doesn't have the heart to turn her down. she also asks for it during naptime and bedtime and plays with it before she goes to sleep. i have even watched her put the cards in her grocery cart and push them around the house. yes, she is obsessed. the other day we were playing and i noticed she couldn't stop doing the pee-pee dance and i was worried about an accident. "do you have to go pee-pee?" i asked. "mommy, i just can't even think about going pee-pee right now." this is one serious candyland player. (she did eventually bolt for the bathroom and fortunately made it in time.)

the other day, she was carrying the game around the house and asked anthony if he wanted to play. he politely told her he unfortunately had some work to do so he couldn't play right now. her response: "but daddy, how about just once. you can work after you get some game in you."

i love it. i love that she really just enjoys the process and hasn't yet discovered the greed of winning and wanting it all. i love that she is sincerely delighted with the good fortune of others. i love that when we are setting up and she sees one of these "fruit people" she excitedly hands it to me and says, "put this one in a good hiding spot!" i love how her eyes light up not just for "fruit people," but even for a single, plain old colored square. she is thrilled. i can learn a lot from her. i'm trying to apply her 3 year-old wisdom to how to live life... enjoying the big things that God blesses me with, and also what he blesses others with that i get the opportunity to be a part of. and not only the big things, but all the fun little colors along the way. bennett also likes playing candyland. his rules are different. i refer to this as "tackle" candyland. its slightly more violent and ends when every single card and gingerbread man is scattered across the living room. ella no longer asks him to play with her.