Why do "Mormons" have lots of children? Or what do I do now that my children are in school?

The idealist answer to that would be that children are a great blessing. The more children, the more blessings.

Another answer would be that we are commanded to have children. From The Family: A Proclamation to the World: "We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force." This is from a declaration read in 1995 by the Prophet and President of the Church, Gordon B. Hinckley. This document was created by the Prophet and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. I believe in the truthfulness of this document. At the time this was read, I had one child. I was doing my student teaching to finish up my degree in Elementary Education. After finishing my degree, I planned on staying home with my daughter and having more children. My professors and mentor teachers could not understand why I would get a degree and then not use it--not work as a teacher. But I wanted to keep the commandments and I wanted to have more children. This revelation was a comfort to me as I was choosing to be a stay-at-home mom and nurture my children. I don't want to make anyone feel bad who was not able to or did not choose to stay at home. My husband and I decided that was what was best for our family.

Now, 18 years later, my children are all in school. My oldest is at college. My youngest is in 1st grade. I devoted the last 18 years of my life to being their mother and now I'm home in an empty house. This is going to become a rant on what I do all day now that the children are in school. But before I get carried away, I want to finish addressing the question of why we have lots of children. We are all spirit sons and daughters of God. We lived with our Heavenly Father, Heavenly Mother, our brother Jesus Christ, and every other man or woman who has lived or who will yet live upon the world. We were spirits there. And the only way to obtain a body was to come to earth. We take part in creation as we create bodies for those spirits. And yes, being a parent is the hardest job I've ever done or will ever do, but it is also the most rewarding--I hope.

Since I'm now at home during the day without my children, I've been asked what I do while they're in school. I feel defensive when asked that, like I'm lying around doing nothing. I'm doing the same things I did before: laundry, meals, cleaning bathrooms, checking facebook, arranging fundraising opportunities for marching band students at the high school, exercising, grocery shopping, birthday shopping, checking if the children cleaned their rooms, organizing a yearly writing conference at Boise State University, writing, and extending my focus beyond being a stay-at-home mom. I've got to figure out what it means to be me, by myself. I'm working on that.
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While I fold the laundry and get ready for my blessings to come home.