As a little girl, Mrs. Busby’s desire was to someday have her own children. Now a mother of six, she says she’s blessed even though many days her work is plentiful and rest is scarce.

Though most mothers wear many different hats, the soft-spoken wife of Blane Busby has a few extra in her closet. She’s not only a mother, but also a teacher, tutor and friend.

“Mother’s Day is a special holiday for me,” she said. “I’m glad I still have a mom and my husband does, so we can be with them. I’ve got six children that I’m a mother to and that’s what I wanted to be. I’m just glad I can be a mom.”

Originally from Long Island, N.Y., Mrs. Busby hoped to have one dozen children. She now is grateful that prayer went half fulfilled.

“Finances are a large part of it,” said Mrs. Busby, who sent eldest son, Matthew, 23, to Baylor University and eldest daughter Meagan, 22, to Oklahoma State. “College for children is beyond expensive. I can’t imagine doing it 12 times.

“It can be very loud and very noisy here,” added Mrs. Busby, who lives in west Temple. “I can’t imagine doubling the kids. Now with just three at home it can seem very quiet.”

Middle son, Christopher, 19, left when he joined the U.S. Marines. He expects to go to Afghanistan this summer.

That leaves three members of the Busby bunch at home: daughter Haley, 15; son Alex, 12; and Aimee, 6. With only the younger trio remaining, the family traded its boxy eight-passenger van for a smaller family car.

For Mrs. Busby, who teaches ninth-, seventh-, and first-grades, the dual roles of being both mom and teacher started in 1992. The couple brought Matthew home from a traditional school to give him a chance to mature with the help of one-on-one instruction. The family soon decided to make it their lifestyle.

“I’ve seen benefits when we’ve had little ones because the little ones have gotten to know their older siblings,” she said. “I think my children, though they are just like all other children, I think they’re closer than many other siblings would be.”

Just like in any household, conflicts arise and as Alex said, pots are burned.

“She’s understanding,” Alex said. “When I burned her pot black, she made me get it all clean, but she understands. Also, I broke her flower vase she’d had since she was little.”

But the children remembered her patience.

“It’s certainly not all the time,” she said. “I truly think it’s because patience is something God’s been able to help me with. I’ve learned more about how to be a mom through reading the Bible. It guides what I do, what I say, who I am as a person and as a mother.”

Though she said praying for her children is the most important thing she does for them, she also stays busy managing lessons and activities for a high-schooler, middle-school student and first-grader.

“There’s fatigue,” she said. “Many late nights and most early mornings. I’m doing things late at night I think I would be doing during the day if the children were in school. Sometimes I’m getting things ready for school, doing laundry, dishes or paying bills.”

She also stays up late with occasional work as an insurance transcriptionist, a part-time job that supplements the family income. Nevertheless, work is a means to an end.

“There was nothing I wanted career-wise,” said Mrs. Busby, a secretary before having children. “I really just wanted to be a mom. I enjoyed school, but I really wanted to be a mom. This right here: Having this little one sit on my lap. I just really enjoy being with my children most of the time.

“I’ve been doing this for so long I really can’t even imagine any other way. I can’t imagine not being here with them.”

Though she literally teaches first-grader Aimee everything from A-to-Z, Mrs. Busby said the little girl who likes to climb in her lap during study breaks has taught her a lot, too.

“The difference in the way I am a mom to Aimee as opposed to Matthew - the youngest and the oldest - in many ways it’s similar but in many ways it’s drastically different,” she said. “Things that I thought were important with Matthew I see that they’re really not.”

Aimee said cooking with her mom is one of her favorite ways to spend time together.

“I see how quickly they grow up and really I think I’m enjoying her young years more than anybody else’s because they really grow so quickly. I didn’t really believe people who told me that when I had many little children, but they were entirely right.”

Now she echoes that advice to younger mothers.

“I would say leave the dishes, leave the laundry, sit down and play games with them,” she said. “Go for walks. Really enjoy them when they’re little because there’s going to come a day you sleep all night and your house is going to be neat and clean. But it’s also going to be quiet and you’re going to miss having that little one climb up in bed with you or sit with you.”