Misadventures: Latin for 'fish'

Yes. Another post on opening day. I've now moved into obsessive compulsion about my new blog. Oh well. Send me a Little Debbie oatmeal pie, and I'll recover by morning.

So how about a homeschooling moment? For the last few weeks S,B, G and I have been trying our hand at learning some Latin. If you want to know why we're doing this, your options are:
a) we're gluttons for punishment
b) I'm ignoring my own advice (see previous post) and producing Trophy Children
or
c) I became convinced of the benefits after reading A Latin-Centered Curriculum by Andrew Campbell.

No hints. But I lean towards 'c'.

Anyway, part of our course is learning Latin prayers. Our first is The Sanctus. It goes something like this:
Oremus (Let us pray)
Sanctus, Sanctus, Santus (Holy, Holy, Holy)
Dominus Deus Sabbaoth (Lord God of Hosts)
Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria Tua (Heaven and earth are full of Your glory)

(I'll stop there, as the rest isn't germaine to this post, and really, did you want to read the rest?)

Now because life is quirky in ways that escape me, my children have very little difficulty pronouncing these ancient words. I, on the other hand, foam at the mouth trying to spit these syllables out in a coherent fashion. Nevertheless, I put my heart into it and chant along with them, kleenex close at hand. So last week I was feeling pretty confident about my efforts up to that point, and as we reverently and respectfully moved toward the last line, I loudly proclaimed,

"Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria TUNA."

(insert several long moments of my wicked children gafawing in peals of hysterical laughter)

Hmmm. So perhaps we'll just skip ahead to the Doxology. I'm hoping that prayer won't reference anything having to do with noodle casseroles, pickle relish, or mayo. But just in case, I'll be mouthing it, all the while harboring bitter feelings toward the Romans who came up with this unpronounceable verbage.