'There's never a dull moment' for this mom

Dawn Rose poses with her six children, three of whom she home-schools. One more is on the way. Ledger photo by ERICA LONG Changing diapers, getting kids dressed and fed and starting class for home-school. This begins a typical day for Dawn Rose. She lives in Gaffney.

Her full-time job is being a mother and home-schooling her six children. Their ages range from one to nine. The oldest is a girl and the rest are boys.

She says she loves having a large family.

"We are a high-energy family," she said. "I love us being together all the time."

As the day progresses, the three oldest children do schoolwork while the youngest three play. Then they have either nap time or quiet time and play until supper time.

Rose says having six children has helped her learn to be more organized.

She is now expecting her seventh child.

"We want one more," she said. "I've never lost the feeling of wanting a baby. But I'm pretty much done now."

She comes from a family of four and her husband, Len, a family of five.

She says they did not plan to have this many children, but she is glad they do.

"We're our own party," she said. "There's never a dull moment. There's always something going on."

She says vacations are also usually interesting.

Two years ago, the Rose family went to Myrtle Beach on vacation. They were watching the sunrise on the balcony in their pajamas when one of their sons shut the door and locked them out. Rose knew the family in the room next door and threw plastic Coca-Cola bottles to their balcony to get their attention. They came out and called hotel security to let the Roses back into their room.

Rose says she learned a lot being in a family of eight - soon to be nine - and is still learning.

"There's not a lot of room to be selfish," she said. "We're forced to depend on each other more in a family this size. It has helped me grow so much."