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!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - February 23, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Another frosty day made for a start to the school week where we were motivated to stay indoors and warm.  We get more done when not distracted by play opportunities with our friends and sunny, warm weather!  Tai Chi was indoors; we had a good day at school; and then the lab or archives play-work was awesome!  We used time phasing to get more done; my experiments were successful and we are making progress on our cancer cures, but what I’m developing requires unique formulations for what might actually end up being individual treatments for my future patients.  Ethan won’t get to be a future billionaire with Naomi and me, but his work in the archives is just as important for the future of our world – and might prove to save more people too as his efforts lead to better-trained Magi of the Light.

We came home in time for dinner with Mom and Dad; enjoyed that meal with them; and then we got to work again in the office with a Magi lesson and family business and charity work.  Time phasing helped with getting a lot done with all of that too; and we had a vid-chat with Cassie and Michael while they were having breakfast on their Tuesday morning in Cambodia.  Mom co-ordinates daily work with them too, but Ethan and I worked on other projects tonight.

Now we are winding down with the usual twin chat and computer checks; and we’re running out of steam fast thanks to all of those extra hours that we ‘made’ for our day.  The world news rolls along with the usual attempts at daily distractions while the worst atrocities go on and the newest military, political, and economic threats and power tactics.  It is no longer refreshing to hear ‘honesty’ from our leaders and other power players.  Now it has just become audacious and nauseating to watch people just admit that they want to have a new era of colonialism and exploitation – whether that is for oil and minerals from Central America or beachfront property in Gaza and Cuba.  News flash – the rich and depraved do not need more of, well, anything!  The Ukraine war is still terrible every day and getting worse for the people there on both sides of the front lines.  The peace talks news is on another hiatus, but it will surely be back again soon – possibly as a distraction from the attacks on Iran if they happen in the coming days.  There is still more build-up happening in the Middle East; and we continue to doubt that our government would spend that much money on the move of all of those weapons just to scare the Iranian leaders.  The political talk isn’t even about nuclear weapons or long-range missiles anymore when the talk is overtly about regime change as the only ‘acceptable’ solution.

The one new story we want to cover tonight is the killing of a Mexican cartel leader by Mexican police, and now the cartels are retaliating with widespread violence across Mexico.  Yes, we think this is another distraction story, but that doesn’t matter to the people being killed and hurt; and it is another example of clueless leaders in our world not understanding consequences of actions – or maybe just a total disregard for their people.  Let’s not even get into how stupid it is to think that cartels are not organized-enough to have the next leader ready to take over ‘businesses’ that have been around for a long time.

Okay, we need to call it a night and get some sleep; so that’s all for this report.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - February 22, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Winter was definitely here this morning with the low hovering around zero and a high this afternoon that barely hit thirty – which is why we stayed indoors for most of the day!  Before we get to our Sunday adventures, let’s cover the rest of our respective Saturdays.  Ethan did not have as much with Naomi last night as I had with Aiden thanks to Zack and Eli and their practical jokes and games while they were all hanging out with Naomi’s parents.  That was a last-minute change; and it was clear that Zack and Eli had been in need of letting their weird out to play last night.  Compared to that, Aiden and I had a quiet night with his family.  We had Hailey and Leah with us; they are awesome to hang out with; and they also choose to give us alone time for our co-ed sleepovers – possibly because they might need the precedent someday if the guys closer to their age stop acting as goofy as Zack and Eli!  Ethan’s sleepover wasn’t all-bad, since he did still get to cuddle with Naomi after they did go to sleep, but they also didn’t really get left alone until they gave up on having any make-out time and just went to sleep.  I will spare Ethan and not detail the play time that Aiden and I did get to have; and only not that we were much happier when we met up at church this morning!

As for today, we did our own, indoor Tai Chi workouts; breakfast with the Drapers or Seagers that was also more-fun for Aiden and me; and then Ethan and Naomi were happiest about escaping from Zack and Eli once we were all at church where the boys pretended to be little angels while whisper-bragging to their buddies about how much they managed to annoy Naomi last night.  We had fun during the first part of the service; moved on to help out with the prep work for the Easter services during Sunday school; and then Ethan and I came home with Mom and Dad for lunch before we headed to the lab or archives for the afternoon.  We used some time phasing; got a lot done; and then we came home in time to help Mom with making dinner.  Dad had spent most of the afternoon working in the office – or maybe not most of it, but we still all worked in there after dinner and the clean-up.  Ethan and I worked on charity and family business projects; there was some more time phasing; and that’s why we’ll still be sleeping before midnight.  Bath or Jacuzzi time followed the work; and now we’re winding down fast toward nap time.

Before we do that, though, Cassie and Michael have already moved from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap on their Monday morning.  They headed out very early local time for the five hour and change drive about two hundred miles north of the Capital; and they will be in that region of the country for the rest of the week until they’ll need to be back in the Capital for their next big move next Sunday.  Siem Reap and the other cities they’ll be working around are much smaller than the Capital, and the projects we’re working on there are smaller too, but there is a lot of potential in the region too; and the work they are doing is making a difference not just for the people, but for everything from research to environment and natural resources conservancy.

It would be nice if we could say the same for our world leaders and their efforts, but that would be a total lie and they are still more-interested in war and exploitation than in the greater good for all people and the planet in general.  That said, we also need to report that the secret service shot and killed another gunman trying to breach security at President Trump’s Florida Mar-a-Lago resort.  We are not going to get into details – there is enough of that in the news while the most-important stories get ignored; and the story there ought to be the fact that this is just another example of the unrest that is growing here at home and around the world that is leading to clashes like this one and all of the protests we’re seeing around the world.

There is so much more that we could write about, but instead of talking war; let’s comment on a political-economic story – the Supreme Court decision that went against President Trump on the tariffs that he imposed through an emergency powers act that they decided didn’t apply to the situation he used them for.  President Trump simply ignored the ruling and applied a fifteen percent tariff on all imports to get around the ruling.  For the record, that is insane, since all tariffs on imports are ultimately paid for by the consumers.  Yes, there are other factors like the importers eating some of those costs to keep their products competitive, but the new tariff is far from the only upward pressure on prices; and we’re not even getting into other monetary issues that are devaluing our currency.  While we don’t want to get into war talk, there is sidelines, related news for the Ukraine conflict.  Hungary and Slovakia had advised Ukraine that they will no longer provide electricity or diesel fuel to Ukraine if they don’t resume pipeline operations for Russian gas and oil supplies for both countries by tomorrow.  Ukraine needs those energy supplies, but do not want to allow those gas and oil deliveries; so we’ll see what their leaders choose to do – and we’ll keep you posted.

Let’s stop there.  We’ve had a long day and the last week of February is going to be busy; so we’re going to wrap this up and get some sleep starting right now.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - February 21, 2026

Ehlana and Ethan:

Winter has returned for a few days; so we don’t have a lot of news for you this afternoon as we’re transitioning from a work day to a play night that will also give Mom and Dad a kid-free night.  Yes, Ethan and I are making the tough sacrifices to go and spend the night with Naomi or Aiden and their families to make that kid-free night happen for our parents, but we love them a lot; and are happy to do that for them! ;^)

Since our last update, the dinner and movie night at the Carringtons was fun; the co-ed sleepover with our four best friends that followed was great; and then we woke up to a frosty morning that kept us indoors for Tai Chi.  We had a dusting of flurries overnight too, but the ground was too-warm for it to stick anywhere for long; so it was only the cold that felt like winter today.  After Tai Chi and a hot breakfast; our friends headed out for their homes or the bakery; Mom put us to work on chores for the morning; and the outdoor work was frosty even as it warmed up to just a bit above freezing that even now as we’re writing this didn’t get to forty for the high of the day.  We finished the chores by lunchtime; had that meal with Mom and Dad; and then Ethan and I headed to the lab or archives for the afternoon.  We had our co-ed evening and sleepover plans by then, but our friends were busy this afternoon too; and none of us wanted to go biking or anything else outdoors when it felt even colder than it was today after those days with highs in the sixties and seventies!  We used some time phasing for our work-play this afternoon and got a lot done with our books or beakers; so we feel pretty good about taking the play break for the rest of the day.

Cassie and Michael are feeling good too – or they still will be when they wake up for their Sunday morning.  It is not just non-stop sunshine in Cambodia, but it is hot and sunny most of the time; and they’re getting a high for their Sunday will likely hit triple-digits for their final full day in and around the Capital.  We are more-jealous of that when it is so much colder here at home, but we’re also starting to look ahead to their return home.  That is still three weeks away, but it feels closer now that we’re down to weeks instead of months!

Ethan and I do want to have fun tonight; so we’re going to stay away from most of the world news.  We do need to mention that our military build-up in the Middle East continues to the point where war with Iran seems inevitable.  Most people don’t likely even think about all of the expenses involved just in simply moving all of those ‘assets’ from around the globe to the area; and none of our leaders seem even remotely concerned with the risks of the death and destruction they will start with these actions.  Let’s also point out that we care about that regardless of where those casualties happen.  History will not be kind to our world leaders about this entire era of neo-colonialism – just as it isn’t about all of the death and destruction the western countries brought to the rest of the world in previous centuries as they destroyed entire societies.  That is not hyperbole to us, since we can back that up with comparisons to what was done in previous centuries.  The methods are different, but the exploitation, destruction, and killing has the same results to the people that suffer under the horrific conditions.  We are absolutely-sure that the people of the countries that have been destroyed over the past twenty years do not thank us for ‘saving’ them when their lives have only gotten worse since their so-called rescues from previous ‘evil’ leaders.  Iran is, obviously, next on the hit list for conquering and exploitation; and all we can really do is watch on in sorrow and prepare our family businesses and charities to step in where possible to help with the inevitable damage that doesn’t need to happen at all.  We could have a long rant on the waste or rebuilding costs too, but need to get going; so we’re going to wrap this up now.

Stay tuned for our next report that will not include anything about what our parents will do with their kid-free night – or the best details from our co-ed sleepovers.  I should likely add in a me-only report for that sort of thing just because Cassie thinks that the archives need more of that kind of teen information for future Magi teens, but Ethan definitely doesn’t want to do that at all; and he’s blushing just from my mention of the idea!  That’s adorable, but I won’t tease him about it because he’s a guy; and that’s fairly-normal.  That now has me picturing Magi cavemen having the exact same thoughts about teen relationships as ‘modern’ Magi guys, but Ethan assures me that there are no archives pictographs to support that idea!  Okay, that’s silly-enough to end this on a happier note; so we’re out of here!

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