Hannah Keeley had every right to be exhausted and grumpy.

She had spent the previous day attempting to fly back to Richmond from Orlando at a time when a computer glitch had gridlocked air-traffic-control operations on the eastern seaboard. She arrived home late to take the reins of her household from her tired husband, Blair, and seven children: Kelsey, 15; Katie, 13; Kyler, 12; Karis, 10; Korben, 6; Klara, 4 and Kenna, 2.

But early the next morning, she was perky, energetic -- some might say disgustingly cheerful. She bounded from room to room in the family's modest Cape Cod -- suggesting natural remedies for one child's stomachache and mediating between two young daughters who were encountering artistic differences while watercoloring at the dining room table.

"Did you hear my watch beep?" she asks a guest. "I set it to go off every hour. It's my attitude check. It helps me make sure I'm maintaining a positive attitude. I take a deep breath and keep moving forward."

While being interviewed in her kitchen, she simultaneously pulled a clump of oatmeal out of one child's hair, ran a sink full of soapy water for the breakfast dishes and poured herself a strong cup of coffee, stopping only long enough to lower the volume on a Jonas Brothers CD jarring the adjacent living room.

Welcome to the world of Chester dynamo Hannah Keeley.

Her supermom credentials go way beyond having seven children, all of whom have been or are still being home-schooled. She's taken her psychology/behavioral therapy background, melded it with her real-life experience and turned it into a growing mom empire.

What began 12 years ago as a survival-tips-for-moms newsletter that Keeley distributed in area supermarkets, libraries and children's clothing stores has blossomed into a multimedia career that includes three books, several product lines, a "total mom" interactive Web site with a blog and weekly newsletter, and appearances on NBC's "Today" show, "Fox & Friends" and multiple guest shots on "Rachael Ray."

Blair Keeley, an executive vice-president of West Cary Group advertising and marketing firm, says life with Hannah isn't as hectic as it sounds. "The amazing thing is that it doesn't seem like she has a job," Keeley said. "She's still at home, raising the kids 24/7, cooking dinner, taking care of the home, teaching our younger kids, and we always have time to relax with our family.

"There's always the occasional trip out of town for a television appearance, but they are maybe once a month. And when she does, she leaves a plan in place so that the home can run on auto pilot.

"That would be me -- I'm the auto pilot," he said.

As if her life wasn't busy enough, Keeley, 40, recently finished filming pilot episodes for "Hannah, Help Me!", which is under consideration for next year's PBS schedule. John Felton, vice president and general manager of Community Ideas Stations television in Richmond, said the screeners were delivered to PBS headquarters on Tuesday. A decision will be made in the next month on whether PBS will pick it up as a national show. The earliest it would air is March.

Keeley's show seeks out desperate housewives who need a lifestyle makeover. "It's an exhaustive boot camp, two days, a combination of 'Super Nanny,' 'Dr. Phil,' and 'Martha Stewart,'" Keeley said, laughing. The makeover includes home organization, financial tips, an exercise program, healthy foods and stress relief.

To recruit subjects, Keeley's assistant sent e-mails to a couple thousand people "and got back 20 times what we expected," Keeley said.

She hired a producer -- Matt Hightower of Distillery Pictures in Raleigh, N.C. -- and filmed the pilot in Attleboro, Mass., with a mother of three who had a sick parent and a husband who had lost his job. "The house was cluttered beyond belief, there was no schedule, the kids were eating macaroni and cheese every night," Keeley said with a sigh. "She was just putting out fires and missing out on what's really important."

Hightower first met Keeley in Attleboro and found her energetic, charming, beautiful and funny -- but he was unsure how her personality would translate to the camera. "Driving the bus, so to speak, on camera is different than just doing a guest spot," he said. "She hadn't been the person guiding a show, but she took it like she'd been doing this for 10 years."

The director found Keeley to be the same person off camera as on. "I was pleasantly surprised at how polished she was," he said.

Keeley returned to her pilot family's home a week ago to see if the boot-camp regimen had stuck. "It was unbelievable," she said. "It wasn't the same house. There was a real feeling of peace in her home."

The house wasn't perfect -- nor is Keeley's. "The whole perfect image stops us in our tracks," she said. "You can't organize the entire closet, but you can do one shelf. If you try to go for perfection, you're setting yourself up for failure."

She gets up at 6 and goes to bed around midnight. She has master calendars, meal plans, chore charts and well-trained children to keep chaos at bay. Her office shelves are lined with multiple binders for each child's select school papers and artwork. She scrapbooks family vacations by doing a few pages at a time now and then until they're complete.

She works out three or four times a week and runs most nights.

Where does Hannah Keeley want to be 10 years from now? "Alive."

She laughs. "Actually, I want to have my company be a full resource for moms, synonymous with effective motherhood, not perfect motherhood."
Contact Julie Young at (804) 649-6732 or jyoung@timesdispatch.com.

Visit Hannah Keeley's Web site at www.totalmom.com. E-mail her at hannah@totalmom.com.