In
Defiance, Ohio, housewife
Evelyn Ryan managed to support her husband, Kelly, and their 10 children by winning jingle-writing contests. Kelly failed to support his family, in part due to apparent
alcoholism and low self-esteem. He dreamed of being a singer but lost his singing voice in a car accident, and was often cruel, abusive, and prone to violent outbursts when he is
drunk. Evelyn wins useful things such as a large freezer, ice buckets, a washer and dryer set, a trip to
New York City, a window, a sports car, a shopping spree in her local grocery store, and ice crushers; as well as less useful or necessary things like sleds, boots, a pony, a palm tree, a camera, dance shoes, a boat motor, pogo sticks, a case of dog food, and a lifetime supply of bird seed, which she exchanges for money. Kelly, who feels like his role as provider for the family is being threatened, criticizes Evelyn and damages some of the prizes she keeps. Their children side with her. Kelly gets angry at Evelyn, and accidentally knocks her over while she is carrying 12 full glass bottles of milk, causing her to nearly sever a ligament. Evelyn is able to talk him down after each incident, and, temporarily at least, he treats her better. As time passes, the older children start moving out for college and participating in sports careers, lessening some burdens on the family. Evelyn is largely isolated because of the hours she has to spend caring for the children, and the lack of local intellectual equals. However, she is contacted by a group of other contest-entering mid-western housewives and befriends them. Ultimately, Evelyn discovers that Kelly had secretly taken out a second mortgage on their house and never made payments on it, leaving the family subject to an almost-certain
foreclosure. The children pray for their mother's miraculous victory in a contest sponsored by
Dr Pepper. She wins and pays the mortgage on the house. Years later, it is revealed that after Kelly died, Evelyn finds out that he has placed his pension checks in a bank account especially for her to make up for all the failures he made as a husband and father. The actual Ryan children are then shown as adults. ==Cast==