Noisy, Colorful, Lively

I came across this the other day and I was instantly attracted to it. So I set it aside and decided I'd write about it later on.I looked at it again this morning and was suddenly struck with...well, the obvious.I'm sure, beyond a reasonable doubt when Mel Brooks made this statement, "If you're quiet, you're not living. You've got to be noisy, colorful, and lively." He was talking about children. I'm also pretty sure (we share the same birthday - that's why I'm sure) he was specifically talking about my children.No. He's never actually met my kids. But that has no bearing on the fact that he was talking about them.Allow me to explain further...Last Sunday after Mass we took our boys to Wal-Mart. They behaved so perfectly whilst in Church that we must have been high on joy because we thought we'd be able to go in and get out relatively quickly.I don't know what we were thinking. I really don't.An hour and a half later, after chasing after, bribing, and then finally giving in and feeding them a McDonald's happy meal we managed to get out unscathed.I say unscathed because no one was physically injured this time.The last time we went to Wal-Mart Evan, while trying to get out of the cart fell backwards into a very full cart of groceries. Luckily he landed on the bread and cereal boxes and by some miracle of God managed to not crush the eggs.Again, I don't know what we were thinking because after Wal-Mart we made a go for Costco.Yes. The hubs and I are gluttons for punishment. We must be.Ten minutes into our food sampling escapades Michael decided he was tired and needed to sit down. Off went the husband to fetch a second cart so that both boys can sit in the ginormous basket that is a Costco shopping cart.Things were going rather smoothly after that. Until we reached the frozen food section when Mike decided he'd had a rest and no longer felt tired. Evan being the little brother understandably wants to be "like Mike" -so as soon as Michael's feet hit the floor, Evan began wailing to be let out. A worried glance passed before the husband and I as we set the little guy free under the assumption that his father would hold his hand and I'd push the cart.Things didn't happen quite like that.Picture this:Little boy running a muck in a very crowded over-sized super center. Me feeling like I could use a drink. (Or rather grabbing a bottle from the wine section cracking it open against that huge and mostly empty cart and chugging straight from the bottle-while trying not to cut my lips.)It didn't take long for the hubs and I to decide to call it quits. While I checked out he went off and bought them a berry smoothie.Looking back though-while I sit here at nap time I can't help but smile. My children know how to live. They are full of color, vibrant liveliness, and with all that Cuban blood in them they certainly are noisy!As much as I'm smiling right now, I don't think we're going to try shopping together as a family for at least another ten years.Yeah right. Who am I kidding. We'll be back at it this weekend!Photo: weheartit.com