Abi Coop
Melissa Richard
Kristen Ryan
Hour by Hour Challege | by Bri Davidson
We have another Hour by Hour Challenge completed by Bri Davidson! Here is what she had to say about her experience!
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“Over the last couple months our routine has been lost in the overwhelming changes due to COVID-19. It has been a stressful and mundane season, with a side of chaos. Having a two and four year old, while pregnant, at home all the time can be daunting and just plain hard. After a while, the constant time at home started to become a burden.However, taking the time to complete this hour by hour project has refreshed my soul a little bit. It has created a new sense of gratitude. I loved having the opportunity to be intentional about each moment. The opportunity to observe every moment, and see how beautiful and fun each fleeting hour truly is during this phase of life. I loved completing this project and hope to do this more often. As a stay-at-home mom, it was a reminder of God’s blessings, and his goodness that take place right in front of my eyes each and every day, even in the mundane. ”
6:00 AM: The kids are early, early risers. They are always up before the sun, and most mornings before me. Thankfully my husband gets their breakfast ready each morning. He has his quiet time, and the kids play quietly so mommy can sleep.
7:00AM: My husband and I love spending time together in the mornings. The kids keep playing, while we get to drink our coffee and connect before the day begins. This is sacred time. The kids know it, and we treasure it!
8:00AM: We head outside as a family. We love playing outside in the mornings! In Florida, the mornings are the perfect temperature and the skies are blissfully blue. My husband and I work out and the kids get to be kids. They climb trees, play with chalk, throw baseballs, dig in dirt…whatever their little hearts feel like doing, they do it!
9:00AM: We take a family walk around the neighborhood. The kids whiz past us on their scooters and the cat is always right there with us taking her morning walk, too! This walk every morning is our time as parents to teach the kids about important things like, “wait for us!”, “Stop and look for cars!”, or “ Say hi back to the neighbors when someone says good morning.” Those kinds of things!
10:00AM: Snack time and TV time. I would be lying if I didn’t say this is one of my favorite times as a mom. The house is quiet. The kids don’t need me for anything. I can finally sit down and rest for a couple minutes!
11:00AM: Crafts! Crafts! Crafts! I usually always let the kids sit on the lanai and craft, or do an activity that requires concentration. This isn’t my son’s favorite thing, so he kind of just hangs on me or goes out to the playhouse while sister finishes painting or crafting! It is her world when we are doing art!
12:00PM: Lunch time! The beloved lunch time! I swear my kids start asking for lunch while eating their breakfast.
1:00PM: Rest time for the youngest and attempted rest time for the oldest. Our daughter, the oldest, she has always struggled with rest time, or sleep in general. Now our youngest ( soon to be middle) son loves to sleep. He loves napping. He loves his bed. He just loves sleep and everything about it!
2:00PM: This is the time I get when the house is quiet and I get to spend time with the Lord, doing my quiet time. Right now, I have an amazing group of women that we are doing a bible study together called, “ What the Women Saw”. It is definitely one of my favorites, thus far!
3:00PM: We split the kids up today. It was a special day because Daddy cleared his work schedule to take our oldest to gymnastics this afternoon to watch her. This meant that I got to spend one-on-one time with my youngest. I don’t get to spend a ton of time with him, so it is always special when I do! We went to a sweet little cafe and ate pastries with some lemonade! He ditched me for the water fountain though. If there is water, he will find it!
4:00PM: We are all just a little bit tired, ready for dinner, and almost read for it to be bedtime!
4:00PM: We are all just a little bit tired, ready for dinner, and almost read for it to be bedtime!
6:00PM: Once everyone is done eating, we do a family devotion. Right now we are reading the kids a devotion about dinosaurs! It is so fun and interactive. We find that while everyone is sitting at the table, the kids open up a lot more. We talk about God and how much we love him. We also get to ask our children how we can pray for them. We sometimes get really serious prayers like worry from the virus, or we get silly requests like praying for someone’s made up friend named Jokey or GiGi. Either way, we take the time to pray for their requests. We want them to end their day knowing we care and God cares about every little thing, real or not real!
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“The day was not over when the 12 hour period ended, but that is okay. I was able to capture enough moments of our day to be reminded how special our family truly is to me. My husband takes the kids to bed. Yes, he wakes up with them and he puts them to bed. I am thankful for this because I want them to know that although I take care of them mostly through the day that their Father is just as important and involved as I am as their mommy. I think that is what makes our family so close. When the kids look back on their memories of being home, I hope they will remember both their mom and their dad there for them. I hope they remember the love that we have for them and the feeling of home we created for them. I love this season of life, even if it can be a hard one!”
Are you up for the challenge?
We have a regular feature to see how all of YOU spend your days! If you are interested in completing this challenge, and writing a few paragraphs about your day to go with your images, I’d love to feature you on the blog! Email your text and images (sized 2048px on the long end) to hellostorytellerblog@gmail.com!
