El Dorado Hills mom heads 'megafamily' with 9 kids

Donna Smith is a mother of what's commonly referred to as a "megafamily." Although she has nine kids, she said she still has time for two jobs, date nights with her husband, individual time with each child, and time for herself. Why did you make the decision to have such a large family?I have always been a risk taker looking for action and energy. I had terrible pregnancies. I threw up for six months solid with all nine of them. Then I had easy quick deliveries. Most children were 5-6 pounds with less than 30 minutes of labor. Then (came) the precious gift — that first look at a beautiful miracle. Everything in my world became amplified as my heart grew. … I feel that each child was a gift and I just got so darn greedy. With each child born my love and desire to do good increased and I wanted to be the best person that I could possibly be. I became addicted to the love and companionship of each one of the spirits that God trusted me to care for on this earth.Tell us about your family.We have nine kids in our family: Kolby, 24, Karson, 22, Kiersten, 20, Kapri, 18, Kanyon ,17, Keaton, 15, Kallen, 13, Kenedi, 11, and Kraigon, 10. We kind of live our life in our own little bubble. We are not part of any majority group or standard household type. The standard answers are, "No, we are not a blended family and yes I had them all naturally." I can write a book about all the adventures we have in just everyday activities. When you combine nine kids and two businesses, it can get complicated. But, for me, it is so very simple because it's all I know for my family and lifestyleWhat do you do for a living?I own Celestine Homes, an interior design and construction management firm. I am an award-winning designer and have participated in the "Street of Dreams" several different years. One year I was nine months pregnant. My children are my "design associates" helping with whatever they can depending on their age and skill set. Designing and building is so rewarding to see your visions come to life. I also work part time at Williams Sonoma in the Galleria Mall as a sales associate and teach some of the culinary classes. I work during school hours and on some Saturdays, giving my husband some special time alone with the kids. How do you manage school schedules?We are very lucky to have all six of our remaining school children living at home attend the same school. Sacramento Waldorf is K-12. Their school schedules are all on the same track and often the high school is directly involved with the lower school activities. The 30-minute drive to school and home is a perfect time to have a captive audience to exchange thoughts and find out what is going on with them all at school. How do you keep their activities organized?I post everything on a master family schedule. I am the gatekeeper of all things in motion. I try to consolidate activities and trips as much as we can so brothers and sisters can be involved in each other's activities.Do you have family meetings? We have daily huddles at 6 a.m. with everyone for a quick prayer and bullet points of the day, special announcements, and so on. Once a week we have a family meeting called Family Home Evening — a tradition in Mormon families.What chores have you delegated to each child?We have had many systems in our home to share the responsibilities of home maintenance. When they were younger we had job cards that had pictures so the small ones could know what their jobs were just by looking at the cards. I started them all out when they were old enough to help me make the beds and empty small trash cans. Now we divide the house into zones and assign each child a zone that rotates each week. How does your husband help?He is my equal partner. We both work in the family business and co-parent. He's my eternal companion. He works very hard in his given profession. Right now he commutes one-and-a-half hours each way to work and I work from home. He has always given me the gift of providing our family with the monetary needs that allows me to be a stay-at-home mom and be fully committed to managing our children's well-being and our home. How much time do you spend preparing food? Preparing and eating food is a family activity, a celebration. This is the most widely universal concept. When we celebrate, we eat. It is time to connect and share as a family. I designed our kitchen in work stations so that we can accommodate all 11 of us in the kitchen at once if necessary. We have a lot of helping hands so it can be quick when needed. Wholesome homecooked meals provide comfort and fill us with a sense of well being.How much do you spend on groceries each month? We set a menu for the week and do power grocery shopping at Costco, Trader Joes and Raley's. We are in the $1,700-$2,000 dollar range per month. We stay with organic whole foods. … Our children have an expanded pallet and enjoy many different varieties of food. Our younger children will often play "restaurant" and develop and print a specific menu — like Italian or Mexican. Then they create food items from scratch for us to order. How do you control spending?Since we own our business, we are aware of budget and keep a close eye on money. When we plan to spend money, it's on the things that bring pleasure and value to our particular family, not on the latest trends or popular items. Our children are issued cell phones when they get their driver's licenses and then they pay for their own car insurance once they are driving. We buy almost everything on sale. We require our children to earn money for things they want that are not in the family budget, like personal electronics or designer clothes. Do you take family vacations? Our vacations are not long elaborate ones but short overnight trips to places like San Francisco, Monterey, and Santa Cruz. We get time away but we do not have to spend a fortune on plane tickets. It is more about being together in a new environment for a while and not having to worry about the routine of our normally busy schedule. Do you take time out for yourself?My husband and I go on date night once per week, even if it is just going to a movie, getting hot cocoa or driving around. We have that time as a couple. Our children encourage this because this allows them to have their own pizza/movie party night with an older sibling in charge.What things have they done for you on Mother's Day?My husband usually assists the children with a great project that is very custom to our family. One of my all time favorites was the book they made about "The Smith Family's Top Ten Reasons Why We Love You Mom." Each child had a page with their picture and a reason. I don't get diamonds or jewelry because I need to save some gift ideas for all my grandchildren someday. I plan to have tons of grandkids.How many bathrooms, refrigerators, TVs, washing machines and dryers do you have?All 11 of us were living in a 2,100 square foot home — with one working shower — for the past 13 years before building this dream home. Our bonus room looked like an orphanage with nine twin beds all lined up. The children have fond memories of telling scary stories and sneaking out of bed to be silly in the center of the room before mom or dad could come in to shush them. We now have six bathrooms, four dishwashers, three washing machines, three dryers, one TV, three oversized refrigerators, and six mini refrigerators.What's the best part of raising a large family?Each child has a unique spirit with individual gifts and personalities that when mixed together make life exciting and rewarding. It is hard for me to believe that they all have the same mom and dad and are growing up in the same home because they are all so very different. I look at each day like a puzzle where I am trying to see the signals they are sending me as clues to whom they are and why they are in our family.