It may sound silly in concept — and even on the screen on some occasions — but I bet it stinks when a stadium-sized glob of ravenous red jelly absorbs you inside its gelatinous innards. While both movies make it pretty damn clear that this ooze from beyond the stars kills its victims in horribly painful fashion, it’s the 1988 remake that truly exploits that premise in gruesome fashion. And yes, I left 1972’s Beware! The Blob off the list for a reason. Like Courtney Defeo, I too want, “memories of joy etched deep in the hearts of my kids.” It sounds easy, but it’s not. In This House, We Will Giggle is a navigational tool that will help every mom find the way to fill their home with love and laughter. And the joy in their family will contagiously spill over and light up the world around them.” Kristin Garvey with her original sign, now in the National Women's Party Museum in Washington D.C., and the redesign. Credit: jennifer rosen heinz 'I've wondered if it could make me a target' The sign spread rapidly among liberals during Trump's presidency, becoming an almost ubiquitous presence in liberal areas. [1] Some people who have attempted to display the sign have come in conflict with homeowner associations, which can have rules disallowing political yard signs. [2] Rosen Heinz still proudly displays the sign outside her home. "I've wondered if it could make me a target," she says. After all, not everyone agrees with these statements. People have told her they've had their tires slashed in the driveway outside houses bearing the sign, and that homeowner associations have fought over whether it should be allowed. A friend of Rosen Heinz in Texas had a running battle with a neighbor who kept taking it down, saying it violated the HOA rules on political signage. But the HOA rules had nothing to say about flags. "So she got the biggest-ass flag you can find" with the message on it, Rosen Heinz says. The HOA had no rule against flags.

I also like that this book applies to all age ranges. Some projects are good for teens, some for elementary age, and some for toddlers. The whole family can learn and grow together. Little did I know that the sign had originated thousands of miles away, earlier that month, as a collaborative effort by a group of Wisconsin women whose story I tell below. Nor did I suspect how viral it would go, that it would be placed in yards around the world, or that it would have such longevity. It was seen widely at the Women's March of January 2017 and at the anti-police brutality rallies of June 2020. No matter what the protest is, you can yank this out of your lawn and you're good to go," says Jennifer Rosen Heinz, one of those Wisconsin women.Garvey, Joiner, and Rosen Heinz didn't have the time to manage the phenomenon; they all had day jobs. (Rosen Heinz did business development for a local magazine.) So they made the decision to hand over ownership of the sign to the Wisconsin Alliance for Women's Health, a tiny advocacy group funded to this day by proceeds from the sign. "It's like giving someone a little 401K," Rosen Heinz says. This surreal cult classic rambles all over the place from missing teens to haunted mortuaries to alternate dimensions, but the most ominous aspect of Don Coscarelli’s dreamlike horror movie is by far Angus Scrimm’s performance as the mysterious “tall man.” He’s super strong, really creepy, and somehow in control of flying silver spheres that drill victims’ brains out. Like I said: surreal.

Within a matter of hours of the sign's placement, a remarkable chain of events was underway. A woman who happened to walk by Garvey's house had taken a picture of it and posted it to a friend's Facebook wall. "You should make signs like this," commented the friend, tagging another friend. That friend, Jennifer Rosen Heinz, agreed enthusiastically. Unlike Garvey, Rosen Heinz is most definitely an activist. "I'm kind of the carnival barker," she laughs. And she felt the profound need for something that the anti-Trump resistance could rally around. The exercise above shows that the progressive creed is not miles away from biblical truth. It’s a “post-Christian” creed because it comes after, and is thoroughly marinated in, a Christian culture where truths about human equality, dignity, love, and kindness were first shaped. Thank you Courtney for this valuable resource that is helping families giggle, grow and get serious about the things that will matter ten years from now. Through love and laughter, each of the chapters focus on teaching a different virtue. The virtues included are joy, love, forgiveness, faith, patience, perseverance, respect, responsibility, service, humility, gratitude, and generosity. DeFeo presents the option of focusing on one virtue each month of the year starting with Joy in January through Generosity in December. This is a great way to not feel overwhelmed but give your family time to really learn about, practice, and embrace each virtue. The chapters include a section called “catch phrase for_(the virtue)_, a memory verse for the month, a kid-friendly definition for the virtue, questions to discuss, a Bible story to read (from The Jesus Storybook Bible), activity ideas and more. This spot almost went to Lon Chaney’s classic The Wolf Man from 1941, but let’s be honest here: this horror-comedy contains the scariest, freakiest, and most ferocious wolf-man combo we’ve ever seen. He’s another tragic villain to be sure, but between his first transformation, his initial killing spree, and that mayhem at Piccadilly Circus, yeah, scary werewolf.I was able to read an ARC of this book through Net Galley, and requested it since I have always worked to give my own five kids a magical childhood and love the idea of a book about making laughter a daily part of our family life. Science is real. Ostensibly the most “who can disagree?” statement of any on the list, this one nonetheless speaks to a particular political divide, mostly regarding climate change and science denialism. As often as science is pit against Christian faith, however, you’ll find nothing in Scripture that contradicts the reality of science or discourages its value. On the contrary, many great scientists of the past (e.g., Isaac Newton ) or the present (e.g., Francis Collins ) found no difficulty reconciling faith and science. Neither should we. Every parent needs this book! I love Courtney’s fun, practical ways to connect our kids with biblical truth while making family memories. This book is an amazing resource that will teach children how to have their own relationship with God.” Lots of people think they support these values, but too often there's an asterisk," Rosen Heinz says. "Like 'oh, it's okay to be gay if you don't mention it.' We needed a statement." Women’s rights are human rights. Sadly the people who put this on their yard sign likely insist that “women’s rights” necessarily include unrestricted abortion access, which immediately undermines any moral authority they have on “human rights.” Unborn human rights are human rights too, after all. But again, the underlying notion of the dignity and equality of women is actually rooted in Scripture (Gen. 1:27, Gal. 3:28), which foregrounds and dignifies women in ways that were unparalleled in the Greco-Roman world. No wonder Christianity was so attractive to women. Further, as Rebecca McLaughlin has pointed out, the very idea of universal human rights comes from Christianity .

Since intentional mothering is something I aspire to—yet often fall short in—it was refreshing to read Courtney’s practical and grace-based handbook on the subject. The passionate way in which the author expressed herself about God, throughout the book, sounded beautiful to me, motivating me me to continue searching and learning from God, and everything I can learn throughout the journey of my life, by holding his hand and believing in his grace. Every person I spoke with said they expect to keep their signs up long-term. Biden's election will not make them feel less necessary. They would only come down after massive societal change, which seems to mean after those "people who may not be sympathetic" are either converted to the creed, rendered politically powerless, or die off.I get a similar feeling as I survey an ever-proliferating array of virtue-signaling lawn signage in my current neighborhood. You might not share the politics of the people proudly displaying these yard signs, but don’t dismiss their importance. They should be illuminating and convicting for Christians—ultimately a cause to connect rather than argue with your progressive neighbor. Post-Christian Creed The first was the most easily answered: "In this house" (and similar signage) has gone nationwide. An informal poll I conducted with friends around the country returned reports of the same sign proliferating in Austin, Los Angeles, Chicago, Indianapolis, Boise, Santa Fe, Richmond, Charlottesville, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and many smaller cities, towns, and suburbs. The only friend who said she hadn't seen "In this house" lives in Lynchburg, Virginia, home of Liberty University and located in a county that voted 71 percent for Trump in 2016.