FHE: Under the Sea

Here's a tip for ya...something to help you figure just what is wrong with your son if he is cranky, whiny and all-around being a pain: if he comes up to you and begs you to change him, even if you don't see anything in his pants, change him anyway! This will save you the experience of an utter meltdown and subsequent non-stop sobbing (the boy, not you, although you'll be tempted) until you can finally wrestle him onto the changing table. There, you will discover that yes, he was indeed poopy, as he indicated, but it was a ninja poop...hiding until the last possible moment. Then you'll spend a few ear-splitting moments trying to clean your poor son and then rubbing Desitin on the chapped skin. So...if this happens to you, listen to your son. He may only be three but he knows when something ain't right on his bottom.

That's the preamble to tonight's FHE. Basically, I had a headache and was mentally exhausted, the Boy was coated in cream but still in need of some serious comfort, the Man was tired and worried about his grandfather and da Boo...well, she was fine. So for FHE, we talked about sea creatures. This was also a practice run for the Boy's preschool class Tuesday morning. I was teaching and chose sea creatures because I found some cool fruit snacks at the store. See? It's always about the food for me!

Opening Song: Twinkle Little Star (really, did you have to ask?)

Opening Prayer: Da Boo volunteered. She says about 75% of the prayers around here...

Lesson: We talked briefly about what fish needed to live (water, plants or rocks for shelter, food) and where you could find fish (oceans, seas, lakes, ponds). Then we talked about what else was in the water besides fish. Da Boo had all kinds of answers. The Boy mostly listened with wide eyes (something tells me that swimming lessons are going to be difficult this year).

For the last book order through Boo's preschool, I picked a book about fish to give to the Boy for his birthday. It didn't arrive in time, due to Spring Break. Da Boo brought it home today so we read it. It's called Fidgety Fish and Friends. It's kinda cute, rhymes so the kids love it, and talks about all different kinds of sea animals.

Looking back, I should have talked a little more about how God created these amazing animals to share our world with us, that they are not just a source of food but also can teach us many things. So, if you teach a lesson like this, you might want to close a little better than I did.

I think the reason I got distracted and didn't really close the lesson was because the Man suggested we call his grandpa. His grandpa is an amazing man. At 16, he ran away to join the circus (seriously!) and then, after that wasn't so fun, he joined the Navy, lying about his age. Whenever we get to visit with him, I always ask to hear more stories from his life. He's got so many! Unfortunately, he has pancreatic cancer. He has lived 1 1/2 years longer than expected. It looks like his time may be over soon and that just breaks my heart. We let the kids talk for a just a minute each and then we got to talk to him and the Man's grandma. I had to break out the tissues.

Closing Song: Once There Was A Snowman (because what better way is there to celebrate Spring than to melt a snowman?)

Closing Prayer: The Man.

Activity: The Man got some new toys. The first was a special cable to make the Wii more high def. The other one was a new game called Endless Ocean. It's a beautiful, serene game. You really ought to watch the videos! Some spectacular stuff! And the kids were totally mesmerized. I love it already, simply for that fact, not that I've played it. They got to watch the Man play for a little bit before I was a big meanie, making them get in jammies and go to bed.

Treats: Aunt Denise gave me a really fun cookbook* with lots of cute snacks and treats for kids. Da Boo was in charge of treats so I showed her a couple options from the new cookbook. She chose the Super-Lucky Cereal Treats. They are basically like Rice Krispy treats made with Lucky Charms. Pretty tasty!


* This link does not go to the exact book, but only a portion of it...mine is a 3-in-1 cookbook and this is one of the parts.