Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - June 12, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 51^st Birthday, Martin Landry!

While we are helping out with some birthday fun by doing some babysitting tonight; our top news of the day-so-far is that we’re done with our exams week and now we just have the countdown for the last week to our summer break.  We’re going to celebrate tonight too along with the babysitting; which is why this needs to be a quick update because we need to get outside and started on setting up tents for a camping night.  Tai Chi was by the river and cooler this morning as the temperature cooled down last night, and while it is sunny and warm this afternoon; it is comparatively-cooler with the high right now topping out in the mid-eighties.  That works for us and it will be comfortable tonight for that camping.

The rest of our story will need to wait, but our current plans include a barbeque dinner; the co-ed baseball game at the park; and either outdoor movies or a campfire with friends, cousins, and the kids we’ll be babysitting while some of our favorite parents go out to the pub for Martin’s birthday party after the game.  Ethan and I will be helping with more than setting up tents for the work, but that could end up being kid control more than cooking or cleaning; so we’ll wait to let you know those details too.  We really do need to get going; so let’s wrap this up.

Peace is on again today in the Middle East without any real details; and the talk on each side that is being reported seems to be a very long way apart for the claims about even the basic expectations or demands that would be needed to end the war.  Both sides do seem to agree on one thing – that there is no trust that the other side would stick to a deal even if one is negotiated and signed.  The threats continue for more bombing and destruction; so we aren’t expecting the situation in the region to change anytime soon.

We aren’t seeing any changes in the Ukraine war with our quick check of the news headlines, but the talk around that war is similarly-delusional for the Ukraine and western leaders as they continue to insist on terms of surrender for Russia despite the worsening situation on the ground for the Ukrainian forces and people.

Ethan and I really need to go now; so that’s all for this report.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - June 11, 2026

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 25^th Birthday, Julian Sparks!

This has been another day where we haven’t been in on a celebration, but then Julie and Jillian are away this week anyway on one of his adventure trips that Jillian went along for this time because of his birthday timing.  We would have loved to be on that trip too, but that wasn’t an option; so we’ll try to be content with knowing that our exams are going perfectly and we’re only a day away from having them finished for another school year.

Ethan and I hosted the last study session after school; we had swim breaks thanks to better weather after the rain moved out of the area by lunchtime; and we did some of the studying outdoors too – though we mostly did that while having dinner too as food was grilled and cold salad and snacks sides were put out on a buffet table.  We wrapped up the study session a bit early tonight – mostly because even our least-prepared friends conceded that they were as-ready as possible for those last exams.  We still had a clean-up to deal with after our friends headed out, but we had that done by shortly-after Mom and Dad got home from the Inn and game night that we missed again this week.  We had a short chat with them, but no work or Magi lessons; and we moved on to bath or Jacuzzi time.  That pretty much brings us up to now and the usual daily twin chat and computing wrap-up.

The top world news is again all about the Iran war.  One of the biggest changes today that we’ve noted has been ‘our’ naval attacks on ships and barges in the Strait of Hormuz region.  Western media screamed about tankers and cargo ships being targeted when Iran was doing it at the start of this war, but they are all suspiciously silent today when other media outlets are reporting that ‘our’ navy has hit at least three oil tankers and even a barge carrying emergency supplies from Oman to Iran.  President Trump has declared multiple times today that ‘we’ are going ahead with a major attack on Iran tonight for a third day in a row.  He’s also claimed that he has canceled that attack – possibly because Iran was promising more retaliation across the region; and now we’re waiting to find out which ‘truth’ will happen!  None of our western leaders or major media outlets seem to be taking the risks very seriously; and the war hawks definitely want the attacks to resume and escalate.  Israel wants that too and they have joined in on some of the strikes on Iran; they continue to bomb and invade Lebanon; and the horrors in Gaza worsen whether reported on or not.  The Ukraine war continues without much news today, so while we know that the Russian forces continue to advance; and we continue to wait for the next round of defensive lines collapses.

There are two other stories that we do want to write about tonight.  The first is about Sudan and a report that the civil wars there have led to a tripling of poverty in the country.  The rest of the world should definitely care about any country that has seventy percent poverty rates, but western media is again ignoring that story and the situation is sure to get worse through the rest of the year.  The other story is about a new Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and while that isn’t a major world story; we do want to keep an eye on any potential rise in diseases around the world as part of the stresses that could trickle down from the Middle East conflicts.  There are several connections that might not seem obvious, but for one example; there are critical ingredients for medicines that come out of the Gulf region; and that could become a serious problem as stockpiles run out.

Let’s stop there.  We’re tired and need some sleep to be ready for our last exams – and the weekend, so we’ll go and do that; and be back again sometime tomorrow for our exams wrap-up report.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - June 10, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 3^rd Anniversary, May and Lee!

Cassie and Michael shared a vid-chat with their friends today, but due to the time change; they actually did that after midnight local time and breakfast-time for May and Lee in Georgia.  That’s also why they didn’t have that chat with Rowen and Tim too; since they were sleeping because Tim is well into the busy spring-summer season and starts most workdays early – and usually seven days a week.

While we weren’t having any celebrations today, we were busy with exams and studying all day.  Tai Chi was by the river this morning and we enjoyed a hot breakfast with Mom and Dad too, but then we didn’t see them again until a little while ago because Naomi hosted the study session.  We’re all glad to be three-fifths of the way through our exams, but Ethan and I don’t really have anything newsworthy to offer from all of the work.

We can report that there wasn’t much outdoor time during the studying because we got a lot of rain that rolled in around the same time that we finished our afternoon exam; and continued through to now.  There were no cool-down swims after school or this evening; and dinner got changed up too; since Naomi’s parents did not want to grill outdoors in the pouring rain and thunderstorms.  Ethan, Aiden, and I helped out with the dinner cooking and clean-up; and we do not need to comment on a scary meal where some of the guys backslid a bit on former food fun entertainment that included demolishing everything edible that we managed to put on the tables until Naomi’s parents were down to last bags of snacks and air-popped popcorn!  Okay, it wasn’t quite that bad, but it felt a bit like we’d helped to feed a zoo by the time we finished with the clean-up.

Ethan and I came home at eleven-thirty – after helping with a last round of cleaning; Mom didn’t let us do a Magi lesson or extra work because she and Dad had already wrapped up their own work and chores for the day; so we only did a quick chat with them before heading upstairs.  We got started on the twin chat and computing time; and now we’re ready to get this update done and then head for our beds.

The top world news today is the heating up of the Iran war, and after claiming imminent peace yesterday; President Trump has flipped again today and is claiming that he will need to return to bombing Iran because they refuse to surrender and do everything he tells them to do.  Here’s a novel thought for our voters, but maybe we should stop electing old, rich, and possibly insane old narcissists – though our political system would need a major overhaul before that could even be possible when all candidates are selected by the billionaires that really rule the world!  Okay, we’re technically members of that billionaire club, but we promise that we’re good billionaires! ;^)

While our armed forces are fighting with Iran again; Israel is still busy trying to take over as much of Lebanon as they can; and we can only wonder how far they can try to extend their occupied territories before they can no longer control the people they are displacing and destroying.  It is becoming obvious that Israel’s leaders do not understand history; since they are also well on the way to going broke while spending tens of billions of dollars on their wars while making new enemies every day.

As for the ‘other’ top war, we are seeing a lot of indications that Russia’s leaders and people are beyond fed up with the asymmetric and terroristic attacks from Ukraine with obvious help from NATO allies, and we could be past the point of no return; since the Russian people believe that the only way to end the war now is to impose total defeat on the Ukrainian forces.  One example of those Ukrainian attacks that got our attention tonight was a drone strike on a Crimean museum that destroyed some irreplaceable, historic art.  There is absolutely no strategic advantage to that kind of target; and the Ukrainian leaders ought to understand that damaging museums and schools will only fortify the resolve of all Russians.  The news out of the Middle East continues to get most of the media attention in the west, but we know that what is happening in Ukraine every day is far-worse with the possible exception of what Israel continues to do in Gaza and the West Bank and in southern Lebanon.

I’m tempted to keep going with a rant tonight, but we need to get some sleep; so that’s all for this report.  Compared to all of those problems in the world; we really have it easy here at home – even during exams week; so we’ll keep that in mind now as we head off to dreamland.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - June 9, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 26^th Birthday, Kasey Fletcher!

Cassie and Michael had some birthday fun with their college friends – and Rowen and Tim – this morning via a breakfast vid-chat and the gifts they sent ahead for their friend.

Here at home, our top news of the day was the weather as the high hit triple digits and we had some rain to deal with off-and-on – mostly this morning and again tonight.  That didn’t get in the way of Tai Chi by the river or the ball practices that went ahead this afternoon and evening.  Ethan and I weren’t involved in any of the baseball or the Pizzeria pizza picnic – we were at the study session that Caroline Carter hosted tonight for our usual gang of friends.  Her brother hosted his friends too, but other than dinnertime; his gang was segregated in the family room while our group was split between the dining room and kitchen.  We had fun with the studying and the work we helped with on both sides of that meal; we went for two swims while there when we wanted the breaks from the facts and figures; and we kept working until around eleven o’clock – mostly because a handful of our friends needed the support for one or both of our Wednesday exams.

It was going on eleven-thirty by the time we got home so Mom didn’t do a Magi lesson with us and we didn’t do any family business or charity work.  Bath or Jacuzzi time was still needed; so it is late and we need to get started on our nap time soon.  That’s why we’re going to keep our world news update short – though we do know that future Magi readers of our journals don’t actually need to have detailed current updates from us when this is all history for them! ;^)

War is supposedly off and peace is on in the Middle East today, but while that is the political talk from President Trump and others, Israel continues attacks in Lebanon and simply changed primary targets to another part of the country and continuing to ignore the ceasefire without consequences.  Iran isn’t even talking with our country or Israel; and tensions on the ground remain high.  While all of that is going on, the real problems that are continuing to build include dwindling energy reserves; and there are more reports of shortages and reduced production as local prices rise and business and personal behaviors adapt.  That will not be good for the summer season that is so important to the hospitality industries worldwide if vacations and travel contracts significantly, but we’ll wait to see what happens with that story as we head into our own summer break.

The Ukraine war rolls along on two fronts – the fake political and media battles; and the actual, physical conflicts.  We’ve pretty much come to think of the media war as fiction because it mostly is; and that allows too many world leaders to pretend that the continuing horrors and destruction happening in Ukraine aren’t reducing the country to rubble that the Ukrainian and western leaders claim to be saving for freedom and democracy.  We aren’t going to start another rant about that war tonight, but we will continue to note that hundreds of people are dying every day along with hundreds or thousands more being injured while the leaders that could stop this insane war choose holding on to power and wealth without regard for what is best for the Ukrainian and Russian people.

That’s all for tonight.  Ethan and I really do need to get some sleep now; so we’re going to wrap this up right now.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - June 8, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 42^nd Birthday, Aunt Grace!

We – and most of the family-and-friends’ kids – didn’t get to help out very much with the birthday celebration due to our exams studying, but we know that Aunt Grace has had a good day; and she is getting a kid-free night that we are not going to write about here!  Ethan and I made a cameo visit to the Everett’s house, but we were too busy for more while studying with our friends.

Sophia hosted our study session tonight and dinner for the group too, but other than that; we really don’t have anything newsworthy to offer from that work.  Our exams went perfectly; we took one break for a swim in the river during the afternoon and evening studying; and we multi-tasked the dinner and studying – though Ethan and I helped a bit with the grilled burgers and hot dogs and the cold salads and snacks sides that the guys devoured in scary quantities!  After getting home tonight, Mom did a Magi lesson with us; we didn’t do any office work; and needed bath or Jacuzzi time because we spent a lot of that study time outdoors while enjoying the hot weather.  Let’s also report that we did not have ball practices tonight – they were cancelled due to exams week; and that’s going to be true for our usual Tuesday music practices tomorrow.  Some of the ball practices for our cousins will be on for tomorrow, but we’ll be busy studying again; and won’t be involved in any of that action.

That brings us up to now; so let’s finish up with the world news of the day.  The news from the Middle East is mixed after the exchanges of missile strikes between Iran and Israel.  They seem to have paused those exchanges, but Lebanon is still under attack; and the Houthis in Yemen have declared a partial blockade of the strait along their coast to all ships connected with Israel.  They also joined in on the attack on Israel; and there are several groups in the region declaring their support for Lebanon and the Palestinian people.  We have no idea whether there will actually be any de-escalation on any front; and will wait to see what actually happens on the ground in the region.

Ditto that sentiment for the Ukraine war.  The talk of ceasefires and peace have already dissipated; the Ukrainian leaders appear to be preparing for the inevitable westward move of the frontlines as they build up defenses in Odessa and elsewhere; and Russia is continuing their methodical push toward the Dnieper River and possibly beyond if Ukraine does not accept a diplomatic agreement that would mostly need to be on Russia’s terms.  Western leaders and media can’t even accept the idea that Ukraine is losing the war; so that isn’t going to happen and the war will continue.  We’ll continue to hope for better – and that the war won’t expand beyond Russia and Ukraine.

That’s enough for tonight.  Ethan and I need to get some sleep ahead of day two of our exams; so we’re out of here and off to dreamland right now.

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