Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - February 28, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

The top world news today is that Israel and the United States attacked Iran early this morning local time – as expected by pretty much everyone that wasn’t lying about what was really going on with the peace talks that weren’t serious on ‘our’ side of the tables.  Iran had been retaliating; and now we can only wait to see whether this blows up into a regional conflict or not in the coming days and weeks.  Ethan and I really hate seeing yet another war being started and all of the death and destruction happening in the Middle East; and that has affected out day here at home because it was tough to think about having fun with all of that going on and at the instigation of our government and military.

Here at home, we had a lot of fun with our friends yesterday with everything from the biking on the trails and park play in the warmth and sunshine to the co-ed sofa sleepover with our four best friends at Sophia’s house.  We had some work too, since we helped her mother with the work on either side of dinner, but the weather helped with that too; and we grilled burgers and hot dogs outside and put together cold salad sides to go along with the grilled food.  Our evening included more outdoor time; ‘live’ music with our friends; and video gaming and movies.  The last movie started after most of our friends headed for their homes or elsewhere; we stayed up too-late; and didn’t get much sleep.

Tai Chi this morning was indoors; we had a hot breakfast; and then we split up for a chores or work day.  Ethan and I spent the morning on chores at home that were a bit chilly at first and got easier as it warmed up.  We finished that work by around one o’clock; had a quick lunch and got cleaned up; and then we headed to the lab or archives.  As mentioned, we didn’t feel much like playing today after getting the war news, but we didn’t make plans with our friends anyway; and Aiden and Naomi are busy with their own families today anyway – including at the bakery for Aiden.  We worked at the lab with our books or beakers until around six o’clock; came home for dinner with Mom and Dad; took care of the clean-up; and then we worked in the office for a few hours plus time phasing hours.  There isn’t a lot that we can do through our businesses and charities while in the middle of a conflict zone, but we did some work to get ready to send help where needed as soon as possible.  The news from the Middle East is already bad-enough with Iran retaliations into multiple countries, and some of their allies are joining in; so this is likely going to get a lot worse before we can hope for any end.  We’re repeating a bit, but want to be clear that the peace talks on our side were just another ruse and delay tactic while the attacks were being prepared.  Calling this ‘pre-emptive’ does not justify what is being done from our side, but it has been clear for a long time that our leaders no longer follow our Constitution or laws such as the War Powers Act – or International law and United Nations agreements.  The damage being done to our national reputation won’t be immediate, but we are sure that destroying yet another country – even if successful – will just lead to more hatred and future dangers.

The ‘new’ war is getting all of the media attention, but the war continues in Ukraine with daily bad news that is mostly for the Ukrainian people; Cuba and Venezuela continue to be hot spots for political rhetoric and economic warfare and embargo; and tensions continue to rise in a lot of other places around the world.  Instead of going on with those stories tonight; let’s wrap up with a Cassie and Michael update and then Ethan and I are going to get some sleep.

Cassie and Michael are wrapping up their visit to the Battambang region and will be driving back to Phnom Penh where they’ll stay the night before hopping on a flight to Hanoi, Vietnam.  Now that’s something to think about this weekend when our leaders didn’t exactly get that war plan right either, but why do something smart like learn from history when it is so much better to repeat mistakes!  That’s too-sarcastic even if true; so let’s move along.  The overall visit to Cambodia has been a success for Cassie and Michael, and while it is far from the biggest impact for their overall trip; what they’ve done will be amazing for everyone involved in the region over the coming years.

Here at home, Ethan and I are feeling a bit weird about having a weekend night without any co-ed cuddle buddies, but we’ll survive; and all of our parents have noted that they’d like to actually spend some time with only their own kids; so we don’t really mind helping them out with that now and then – even when that means a work night in the office for us.  We are tired and ready to sleep now; so that’s all for this update.  Stay tuned; since an anti-war rant is very likely for our weekend wrap-up and first update of March report because I’m feeling the urge to start on that right now and just keep writing it through until tomorrow night.  No, I won’t do that – though it might be fun to find out how many pages of this digital journal I could fill with twenty-four hours of non-stop writing! ;^)

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - February 27, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

This is only a placeholder update because we are going to be hanging out with our friends for the rest of the day; and Sophia is hosting the co-ed sleepover and teen night at her house.  We’ve had a good day so far and fun at school; and now we’re going to enjoy the play time with our friends for the rest of the day.  Stay tuned for the double-update tomorrow; and we’ll get out there and live the adventures!

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - February 26, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Our top family news of the day is that Cassie and Michael got rained on today!  Okay, they have had some rain here and there while away on their trip, but this was actually a rain day for them – along with the move to their last work stop in Cambodia before they’ll drive back to the Capital on Sunday.  As we’re writing this update, they haven’t left for the hop south to Battambang, but they will head out soon on their Thursday afternoon; and have one project site visit stop to make along the way.  We are not starting our update with them just because of the rain day, and it is still over ninety there for the high; so maybe that just means that our day has been boring by comparison! ;^)

Moving along to our actual adventures, the weather here continues to be awesome with sun and a high this afternoon of sixty-four.  It was still freezing this morning, so Tai Chi was indoors; we had a standard school day breakfast; and then our academic adventures included some afternoon outdoor time.  It was tough again today to turn down the biking and play time with our friends, but we did that and went to the lab or archives instead for a couple of hours – not including the time-phased hours.  We had fun as always; got home in time for dinner; and then we took care of the clean-up and then headed over to the Inn for game night.  That was our entertainment highlight of the day; we had fun with our family and friends; and didn’t win any titles tonight.  Silkie was picked up along the way to help us out with seeing Naomi and Aiden to their homes; and she definitely shared more hugs and kisses than either Ethan or I did!  We came home from there; did a Magi lesson with Mom and some charity work in the office; and now we’re winding down with the usual bedtime computer checks and twin chat fun.

The war drums are continuing to beat loudly with our politicians and pundits, and while we weren’t even good ideas back then, we do read history; and can’t help but compare now to the lead-up to the Iraq war – and others; since history does repeat.  This might be a rare time when an American President has, in the past, declared that we were lied into a previous war and now, in the present, insisted that rhyming claims are true and our government must be trusted.  Iraq was a disaster and destabilized the Middle East back then, but now we’re supposed to believe that war with Iran will solve all problems in the region!  News flash – that won’t happen; and we will only end up with more people hating us; another round of migration as people flee to other countries; and another country destroyed over power and resources.  Western leaders were sure that Russia would be decimated too and convinced Ukraine that it was possible; and that hasn’t worked out as planned either.

Let’s stop there, since I’m feeling the urge to rant again when that won’t really even help to make me feel better about all of the horrors going on around the world.  On a happier note, Ethan and I are going to take tomorrow off from work; the weather is going to be a best-of-the-week kind of sunny and warm; and we are going to play with our friends – including some quality outdoor time.  We want to be rested and ready for that; so we’re off to dreamland starting right now.

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - February 25, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

The weather warm-up continued today, but we resisted the call of the after-school play time with our friends and went to play-work with our beakers or books at the lab.  We had a good day at school after Tai Chi and breakfast with Mom and Dad that had the added bonus of a vid-chat with Cassie and Michael that was a wrap-up of their Wednesday in Cambodia.  The lab or archives work included time phasing to get more done, but I also want to mention that I need to be more-careful with how I do that on weekdays when there are more people in the building while it is less of an issue for Ethan when he’s usually alone in the archives.

We came home in time for dinner; enjoyed that pasta and sides meal with Mom and Dad; and then we took care of the clean-up before going to join them for a work evening in the office.  That work and Magi lesson included more time phasing and we got a lot done; there was another vid-chat with Cassie and Michael as they were starting their Thursday; and now we’ve moved on to our daily wrap-up computing and twin chat time.

We did not write about the Presidential State of the Union speech last night; and have decided not to offer a rant on it at all; since it was just another political distraction that means nothing in the grand scheme of things.  Maybe we should at least add that we aren’t suggesting that the speech is completely inconsequential – we just expect that there won’t be any ‘good’ results; and talk isn’t matching up with action more often than not for all of our world leaders.  It would be nice if that wasn’t true, but we see what is actually happening in the world; and ignore the distractions.  The news that we do see is the continuing fighting in Ukraine and the Middle East; the economic warfare that is causing global-level supply chain disruptions and insecurity; and rising tensions causing smaller problems in a lot of countries.  Mexico is getting a lot of attention because of the cartel retaliations against the Mexican government and American businesses and tourists, and that is serious, but there are protests and other violence happening in a lot of other places as more and more people get angry or desperate.  We don’t want to get into the weeds on those stories, but will point out that our world leaders could choose to promote love and community instead of hate and division and that would actually be easier and less-expensive than spending trillions on war and destruction.

Let’s stop there.  Ethan and I need to get some sleep and it has been a long day with all of the time-phased hours.  We’re looking forward to the nice-weather days we’re going to have for the rest of the week; and we want to be at full-power to enjoy the extra play time we’re going to have over the next few days.

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - February 24, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 13^th Birthday, Robyn Johnson!

We hope that our cousin has had a happy day, but we don’t have details yet tonight and have been busy-enough with our weekly school and music day.  There also isn’t much news to offer from our last Tuesday of February.  It was still cold this morning, but warmed up into the sixties this afternoon; and we’re going to get another little blast of warmer weather for the rest of the week.  We didn’t get to enjoy much of that outdoor time, but we did have a bonus outdoor class this afternoon; and the walks between home, school, and the church were nice.  Our academic adventures were a bit boring except for that outdoor class time; the school band practice was fun, but not newsworthy; and most of us don’t need to rush to learn the next batch of songs – though there are a few of our fellow musicians learning songs for the Easter church services to help with both the teen praise team and the adult praise team music.  Ethan and I were on our own for dinner with Mom and Dad; we met up with our best friends for the teen praise team practice at the church; and had fun with that music play time too.  We took Silkie for a walk after that while spending a bit more time with Naomi and Aiden; and then we came home and did not do any work in the office because Mom didn’t want us to do that again tonight.

We did get in on a vid-chat with Cassie and Michael before coming upstairs.  They are already finishing up now in Siem Reap and will be driving west to Serei Saophoan and the next little blast of work they’ll be doing for the next couple of days.

Here at home, other than that vid-chat; Ethan and I were not allowed to do extra work in the office – though we did get the latest updates.  Our computer checks and twin chat time went on as normal too, but we’re not going to get into another world news report tonight.  Maybe we’re taking too many breaks from that, but while we keep up with a lot of the news from around the world – even in places that most people don’t even look; we don’t want to dwell on all of the bad when that isn’t actually necessary to write about for posterity beyond giving future Magi insight into our own lives and how the rest of the world impacts us.

Tonight, we are impacted by a need to stay happy after a good day; so that is all for this update!

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!