One summer I picked up a book titled Penrod and Sam by Booth Tarkington. The book was about two boys growing up in a small American town in the early 1900's.  Penrod and Sam managed to get themselves in various scrapes, most of the time innocently enough. As I was reading along, I came across a sentence, "The boys went out into the sward to play." As I like to understand what I am reading, and as I like to learn new words, I opened the dictionary that I keep handy.

Norman is officially unemployed. His last day of work was January 13th. The company that he worked for has “gone to Mexico”… literally! He knew that it was going to happen, so at least it wasn’t a big surprise to us. Since he had worked there for over 15 years, he was able to get a pretty good severance package, which also included some bonuses for staying until the end.

After his last day on the 13th, he was telling people that he was going to start his new job that next Monday… “a full-time job looking for a full-time job”.

The term “church” is defined as “called out”, and refers to those who have been called out of sin and into Christ’s body. “Church” is a reference to the people who make up the body of Christ. The term could be applied to a local congregation, or to all the Christian believers worldwide.

While Connie and Norman do their share of blogging, they do let their two young boys post frequently. Recently SBW (9) wrote a poem called, The Bird in the Jar.  And JCW (6) has been enjoying the quilt that Connie made for him in early December.  He has dubbed it, The Royal Quilt.  And it sure looks fit for a king like him!

If you're curious about what the Ward's look like, they've got some great photos on their visit to the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. They provide a couple of humorous photos as they attempt American Gothic art!