Amazing Things Water Can Do

Today was Bedroom Cleaning Day (if your room is upstairs..).  I got my shower early, we ate, and got right to work.  (I was encouraged to let my hair air dry now and then to avoid the heat damage-first mistake was heeding said advice.)
Commercial Break: We started our summer with the breakdown of life: I think I told you a couple weeks ago that the kids were acting a little spoiled.  So..we had them make a list of chores they'd like to do (at least eight), and decided to let them do all of them!  Anyway, one of Clay's was to vacuum upstairs, so I let him start today!  I'm still not totally done making their charts, but I'm working on them..
We also started a reward system (not tied to the chores).  It's called Jones Dollars.  (totally not my idea, but love it!)  The kids made their own money (dollars) last Thursday.  We just folded a sheet of paper into eighths, and they designed their own money, then we copied and cut it.  They also wrote down lots of things they'd like to buy/earn with their Jones Dollars, and Ches and I are still valuating them.  Some of the things they wrote were: playing Wii, playing a game with us, swimming time, arts & crafts time with me, having a friend over, having a sleepover, buying a $15 toy at Target, etc.  Clay still wants the Lego train from Florida, but we valued it at $3100 Jones Dollars.  It might take a few months!  He's working hard, so he could totally make it.  I had a "sale" yesterday for Mary Claire since she really wanted a friend over, but hadn't saved enough money yet.  It was maybe $25, so I ran a sale for $15, since that's what she'd earned.  (pretty creative, huh? heehee)
Ok, so back on track with cleaning-we started with Ethan's room-pretty easy.  Then moved to Mary Claire's-scary.  Then a couple hours in, Dad called and invited us to lunch-and all I could think about was my nasty, air-dried hair!  I would've taken a picture, but it would've embarrassed us both.  So, I worked faster, then tried to curl some pieces of hair-it was so bad.  I'm glad I didn't see you today.
We made it through the rooms, and they feel fresh and clean now-I can sleep sooo much better when the house is clean.  Really.  I was just telling Mom this evening I can't imagine where I got the love of cleaning.  I mean, I don't necessarily love the act of cleaning, but I love me some clean house!  Is it normal?  Maybe you shouldn't tell me if it's not.  ahh..vacuum lines.  : )

Oh dear, things are going on in the world that are much more awesome than my little world today!  Check this out:

(Ok, I stole these off Mom's FB page!)  She's there, and these pictures are so beautiful!  This is Slot Canyon in Arizona.  It's rock that's been weathered by wind and water over time.  We have nothing similar to this in Arkansas, so they are awe-inspiring!  Here's one with a person walking through the narrows (in the 6" deep sand along the bottom):

Can you see him walking down there?  It's a guy that got lost down in there, but made it out later in the day.  Can you imagine?  You can get lost-it's like walking a river bottom-sometimes you can see the sun, sometimes not.  You can't really tell north from south by looking up.  She said on rainy days you can't walk in since you could die from rain (it would flood the canyon, and there's nothing to grab ahold of!).
(Thanks, Mom, for the pictures-just amazing.)
Which leads me to the flood we had last night in Albert Pike (kinda southwest of Little Rock).  I can't begin to tell you-but the Caddo River rose from 3 feet to 23 feet overnight.  There were people camping in tents and cabins in campgrounds along the river-and even the cabins were swept off their foundations, if you can imagine.  They've found 16 that didn't make it, and the waters are still rushing.  Here's our local link, if you want to see the slideshow/news.  The water rose about 8 feet an hour, it was pitch black, had sketchy to no cell phone service, no sirens in that area-just awful.  Please just pray that there are still people hanging on, and for the families of those that couldn't.

¹

I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come?
²My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth..

Psalm 121