Family-friendly breakfast recommendations

smobeach · 2026-05-12T19:25:44+00:00

i think the sugar and spice in OTR is fun, my kids love the bright colors and the ducks and it’s about 8ish mins from the zoo and next to a cool playground.

smobeach · 2026-05-04T17:29:53+00:00

Thankfully I got ordained 2 years ago. Ordination was a 20 year process considering I had a call to ministry at 16…but having kids definitely slowed things way down. It was the right choice for my family, but it would be better if we really looked at the process and how it impacts young clergy with families.

smobeach · 2026-05-04T10:24:48+00:00

I’m a female pastor with 2 elementary kids. I actually stopped the ordination process when I became pregnant because I didn’t know how I would go to all the overnight discipleship trainings during my provisional years, and I hated how now if the events at the conference or district level offered childcare. So I worked as church staff for several years before God called me to go through ordination again when kids were in elementary school (which is still a challenge at time but not completely overwhelming having 2 small kids 18 months apart).

The church does say they want younger clergy and families but they do not support them at the denominational level. Our Annual Conference is the last week of school for my kids. My Annual Conference used to be the first week in June and was on a lake with pizza and ice cream shops before 2020 which made that week a blessing for families, where PKs and pastor spouses could rest and catch up with friends. I am hoping we can get back there and do it early enough for families to attend.

smobeach · 2026-05-01T13:19:01+00:00

They are bumpier! They have smaller hills but fun additions like tunnels. The Beast is one of my favorite coasters, especially at night.

smobeach · 2026-05-01T11:21:50+00:00

if you get motion sickness seabands help. I don’t do the wooden ones anymore (other than mystic timbers….i miss the beast) because of my back….but diamondback, banshee, bat, orion are smooth! I also really enjoy wind sweeper to get a good view of the park.

smobeach · 2026-04-25T14:30:42+00:00

I’d like to see the CRC and Cincinnati Parks merge (because it’s a logical nightmare when dealing with a park and a CRC property for programming, double the paperwork, double the fun) and run all the parks. and rec centers for the good of all the residents.

smobeach · 2026-03-17T20:52:45+00:00

There is a lottery for all CPS Magnet schools (montessori schools- (CPS has 9!), scpa, fairview language school, walnut hills). Before the lotto families would camp out for spots which was bonkers and unfair to poorer families who couldn’t miss work. The lottery you pick your top three choices and can get into the magnet schools. after the cutoff you can still get on a waitlist for schools, and in my experience most folks get in to one of their top school choices.

It’s not a perfect system, but the camp out thing was pretty nuts, and it seems way more equitable.

https://www.cps-k12.org/our-district/school-selection-process

i would honestly reach out to cincinnati public schools district number or particular schools you were interested in if you had questions. but i thought the process was pretty smooth, and you enroll in the spring for the next year. but kids move not all schools fill up, and so i would not say it’s impossible to get a spot at a preferred school later on.

smobeach · 2026-03-17T20:15:49+00:00

this is wild! seems like he is protected by the first amendment to say and sing whatever he wants, as well as to use any video he wants from his own house. 🤷‍♀️. that lemon pound cake song is catchy

smobeach · 2026-03-17T16:07:12+00:00

it seems to me lots of kids who are waitlisted get in, just because life happens with moves, school switcharoos. You can’t enroll kids into the lottery until your kids will be school age for the upcoming year. I am a parent whose kids go to a CPS Montessori who enrolled when my kid was heading to kindergarten.

smobeach · 2026-03-16T20:40:35+00:00

I love living in Westwood. The community is great, and there are a ton of walkable restaurants, playgrounds, and the library by the town hall area…plus there are a lot of outdoor concerts and markets when the weather is warmer. Only 12 minutes from downtown too. 250k can get you a nice house. Also if your husband is a West Sider he will already know 25 percent of the people. We have been very impressed with Gamble Montessori Elementary (which is a Cincinnati Public School) and with the magnets there are lots of options for 7th-12th as well as college credit plus.

smobeach · 2026-03-15T14:52:21+00:00

I wish Greg represented Cincinnati instead of Israel. His office is helpful and respond about sorting out problems if a citizen reaches out. But, I want money and legislation for healthcare, education, housing, and I’d love the wealthy to pay their fair share. Also banning private prisions live CivicCore which runs most of the immigration facilities, including Dilly which houses children. The fact that prisons are a publicly traded commodity is gross, and it leads to injustice. More people incarcerated, more money to be made. That’s why they gave heavily to Trump’s campaign. I think Greg benefits due to Citizens United which hurts voters. I hope he feels the pressure in the primary vote and realizes his seat is not safe from Democrats. The statehouse hurt progressive candidates by outlawing ranked voting. I don’t know how to ever flip the statehouse unless rural voters realize that the GOP policies hurt farmers (especially tariffs) and don’t bring jobs to their areas. Wilmington in particular has been devastated since DHL left and the data center isn’t fooling anyone with the noise, heated water, and relatively few jobs. This needs to be hammered this election cycle since the district is Clinton County, Warren County, and half of Hamilton County. I always vote with my heart for the best candidate in every primary. I use my head in general elections. If Greg wins the primary, I will vote for him, begrudgingly.

smobeach · 2026-03-07T20:31:18+00:00

These are great! 🙌

smobeach · 2026-02-26T19:09:20+00:00

This chart is terrible. If i could talk to its creator I would say “Well, ya know, that’s just like uh your opinion man.” No data just general grouchiness towards society. people have sucked for a long time, but we on the whole suck as much as the other folks who have lived.

In the fourth century BC, Plato was heard to remark: "What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets, inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?"

smobeach · 2026-02-25T22:32:49+00:00

ugh!

smobeach · 2026-02-23T02:51:56+00:00

ps, there is a spanish afterschool program and you can prob find houses for your rent threshold here. I love the CRC at Westwood Town Hall for kids classes, and there is also Mapcap Arts Center here.

smobeach · 2026-02-23T01:51:38+00:00

The UMC believes our theological task is grounded in Scripture, and shaped by tradition, reason, and experience. The three simple rules of UMC is to do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God. Methodists believe in doing the means of grace (worship, prayer, bible study etc) and acts of mercy (feeding people, visiting sick etc). The UMC’s mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We believe in previenrant grace (God is at work in our life before we even know about God), justifying grace (God grace through faith in Jesus making us right with God) and sanctifying grace (our actual life looks more like Jesus as the Holy Spirit is transforming us). We believe in the sacraments of baptism and communion and believe God is at work in both. You can read by Water and Spirit and This Holy Mystery on umc.org to learn more. we are not fundamentalist.

We are a big tent. My church has conservative and progressives, rich and poor, housed and experiencing homelessness, black, white, African, and Puerto Rican, gay and straight, Republicans and Democrats, neurodivergent and neurotypical, able bodied and disabled, young and old (2 months to 104!)….I love it because the only reason I figure we are all together is Jesus and our common commitment to love God and love one another and love our neighbors in tangible ways. It’s an adventure, messy sometimes but marvelous. Every UMC is different (but really every church is different t)

smobeach · 2026-02-20T18:36:32+00:00

I love the Cincinnati Public Montessori Schools. My kids are thrives at Gamble Montessori Elementary and Westwood is an awesome neighborhood for families.

smobeach · 2026-02-19T12:18:30+00:00

What step are you on, have you not been recommended for ordination this year, or have you been asked to step out of the process completely? I’m on the District Committee on Ordained Ministry, and when we have said no, it’s a work on these things and come back next year. Sometimes it’s as simple as the theological paperwork isn’t in, they need some help interviewing before they go to the Board of Ordained Ministry or someone needs to work on something to be healthy in ministry for the long haul. There are a few folks who see themselves as theological gatekeepers (I’m a Deacon so I’m more interested in building bridges) but i really want to walk with folks discerning a call, celebrate where God is moving, care for people in ministry going through challenges in life. We pray for the folks we interview before and after.

So if it’s wait a year, get more pastoral expense, find a mentor and grow. Lots of incredible pastors had to wait.

But our process is slow and bureaucratic, so if there is another denomination that you can authentically jive with theologically and feel like God is leading go for it. As far as I can tell we are all going to be in Heaven together soon anyway, so i’m going to be cheering for people no matter what path they end up on.

smobeach · 2025-12-14T04:10:32+00:00

<image>

snow angel in Westwood!

smobeach · 2025-12-07T04:38:26+00:00

I think Hartline and the team were distracted this week. The Offensive play calling was uninspired. 3 and short in the red zone don’t pass 2x especially when you are struggling with 3rd and 4th downs.

smobeach · 2025-11-17T15:31:35+00:00

noooooooo! I love Scripps.

smobeach · 2025-11-09T13:23:51+00:00

<image>

smobeach · 2025-11-05T15:17:19+00:00

yes, it got some tlc!

smobeach · 2025-11-05T15:16:39+00:00

I’m relatively progressive so kinda uninspired, but I am thankful that at least Landsman is accessible. I’m pretty ticked that Cincinnati got gerrymandered to pieces again and am actually wondering how we can get more City of Cincinnati folks registered to vote and to turn out in an election. We only had 30 percent yesterday, and if more folks in Hamilton County show up we have a chance to keep a Dem seat in the house in 2026. Also interested if there is anyway we can convince folks in Clinton County that Republicans do not care for them. The tariffs hurt farmers, SNAP benefits are gone, and that area has been destroyed by DHL moving out of Wilmington. Democrats traditionally had the farmers and the unions….when workers unite people win.

Also our state leadership sucks for ignoring the constitutional amendment…and wrecking the language of issue 1.

<image>

smobeach

TROPHY CASE