Grace Wright, owner of two Second Time Around consignment clothing shops in Butler County, knows how to manage time and resources.

She has to — she has 11 children.

“I always wanted a big family,” said Wright, 52, of Center Township, who noted most reality television shows about large families have nothing on her real life story.

Wright grew up in a large family having been born a middle child among eight siblings.

She graduated Butler High School in 1977, and worked a handful of jobs before marrying Stephen Wright in 1985.

She then became a full-time homemaker and got pregnant for the first time that same year.

“I always wanted six kids,” Wright said. “A half dozen; three boys and three girls. That way there would be no middle child.”

Wright lost her first pregnancy, which had been twins. But a healthy child followed pretty much every year for more than a decade.

Her children are ages 24, 23, 22, 21, 19, 17, 16, 14, 13, 11 and 8.

Wright was 25 the first time she got pregnant, and 44 when her youngest child was born.

“My husband says he never saw me in a bathing suit,” Wright said.

One of her children, 14-year-old Jonathan, was born on the kitchen floor as Wright, her sister and a small cat waited for an ambulance. Two of her other children waited patiently in another room.

“That was actually the easiest delivery I had in my life,” Wright said. “I concentrated on a spot on the bottom of a chair.”

As the Wright family grew, their lives transitioned in phases.

For years there were no fewer than two children in diapers at any given time.

Then there was a spurt of children breaking bones, and regular trips to the emergency room.

“There was cast after cast,” Wright says with a sigh.

Then came the wave of multiple cell phones, televisions, “and cars. We always have a lot of cars in the driveway,” she said. “And bunk beds. Lots of bunk beds.

“What was nice is that they were born so close together that everybody helped everybody,” Grace added. “The big kids helped the little kids.”

At present, nine of her 11 children still live under her roof.

Wright said one of her greatest rewards is having the entire brood seated at dinner, around a giant oak table that her in-laws gave her.

“I'd do it all over again,” Wright said of her children. “They are all blessings.”

Each child has different interests, activities and issues that require attention, including more dance lessons, sporting events and paper routes than she can recall.

The “family car” was a 12-passenger van.

There are a half dozen family pets, split evenly among cats and dogs.

And, as a whole, the family makes no less than five loads of laundry each and every day.

Trips to the grocery store are made two or three times a week with no fewer than two “very full” shopping carts, she said.

Son Michael, 19, describes growing up in the large family as “hectic.” There's always someone to share with, he said, and always someone to fight with.

“If you are going to have a big family, you have to make a lot of sacrifices,” Wright said, stressing the noise level alone in her home would be enough to frighten off some people. “Our house is nuts. I mean it is very loud.”

Four years ago with a toddler still underfoot, Grace returned to the workforce by buying the Second Time Around store on Main Street.

Grace said initially she was looking to buy a coffee shop. But the idea of a consignment store appealed to her memories of wearing hand-me-downs as a child.

“I always felt so proud to wear my sister's clothes,” Wright said.

The longtime original owners of the Second Time Around shop sold the store to retire.

“People were interested in the store. And the lady told me she had prayed every night for the right owners to come along,” Wright said. “She told me she almost fell over when Grace and Stephen Wright walked in.”

Wright said one of her proudest moments was turning the key the first day she took over the business.

Daughter Lindsay Briceland, 23, who is married and lives in her own home in the city, has worked side-by-side with her mother since she bought the business.

A self-proclaimed “people person,” Lindsay said the best part of the job is meeting customers.

“And I get to see what clothes came in first,” she said. “First dibs.”

Patrons are permitted to bring in two bags of clothing per week.

The clothes are inspected by Wright and Briceland to be sure they are in good condition, seasonable and fashionable before they go onto the sales racks.

“The funnest part of this job is when people bring their clothes in,” Grace said. “It's like Christmas everyday, seeing what's in the bags. Some people have really, really nice stuff and others, you wonder, ‘What were they thinking?'”

Often, clothes arrive with the original store tags still hanging from a sleeve.

“I've had people ask me, “Do you have this in a different size?'” Wright said. “And I have to tell them this is a consignment shop. I think that's neat.”

Those clothes deemed not appropriate for sale are donated to charity.

Patrons may request appointments to discuss why clothes are rejected.

Credit is applied to an account when an item is sold. And patrons may accept either cash or store credit once their clothes sell.

Patrons who have at least $25 credit in their accounts receive a check once a month.

Since taking ownership of the store, Wright has added the second shop in Saxonburg, which is more of a boutique.

There are plans to open a third store, more along the lines of an outlet.

Now, Wright is expanding the Butler store to include an additional section dedicated to theater and dance costumes.

Already, the store's basement is filled with wedding gowns, prom gowns and formal wear.

“Some of our most best-sellers,” she said.

Wright, who bought the stores as a “retirement” plan, said her dreams include one big vacation with her entire family — maybe on a cruise someplace warm.

But what she does not see in her future in an empty nest.

“That would be strange. But I don't think that will ever happen,” Wright said. “There will always be someone home whether it's kids or grandchildren”

Her first grandchild, Henry Thompson, was born to her daughter, Katie, and her husband, Josh Thompson, in December.

<b>AGE:</b> 52<b>ADDRESS: </b>Center Township<b>FAMILY: </b>Husband, Stephen; children, Katie Thompson, 24; Lindsay Briceland, 23; Andrew Wright, 22; Samuel Wright, 21; Michael Wright, 19; Sadie Wright, 17; Victoria Wright, 16; Jonathan Wright, 14; David Wright, 13; Madison Wright, 11, and Abigail Wright, 8.<b>EMPLOYMENT:</b> Owner of Second Time Around stores in Butler and Saxonburg<b>EDUCATION: </b>Butler High School graduate<b>INTERESTS: </b>Gardening<b>QUOTE:</b> “If you are going to have a big family, you have to make a lot of sacrifices.”