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

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Welcome to your adopted Witch Falls family, Shayne Sparks!  Congratulations to Jillian, Julian, and their families too!

That is our top story of the day for here at home.  Jillian went into labor this morning; Shayne arrived at ten-fifty and apparently in a hurry to be born; and both Mom and baby are doing well and already home as we’re writing this update – possibly because Mom helped Jillian out a bit while having an afternoon nap because we love her a lot! ;^)

Shayne’s birth had a lot to do with the shape of the rest of our day; since we were drafted to help out with next-gen kids after school; through dinner; and into the evening while our family was busy with Jillian, Julian, and their baby and family.  Jillian convinced her family and friends to wait for the weekend to come for a visit, but we’re out of the loop for that – at least until we’ll be asked to help out more with babysitting this weekend too.  It was cooler today after the rain that ended late this morning, but we still took the kids out to play after school; and then we hosted keeping them entertained at our house because the doctors and nurse in the family were busy; so Mom and Dad hosted an eat-when-you can dinner while we kept the cousins and next-gen kids busy in the lounge or elsewhere pretty much until they headed for their homes at around the same time that Julian took Jillian and Shayne home from the clinic.  Pizzeria Pizza was involved in the dinner menu, but there were other finger food sides; and we won’t scare you tonight with the Zack and Eli show report because they were in a mood to annoy and entertain with feats of food and drink that were fairly-gross.

After our guests left, Ethan and I did a bit of clean-up work – or a lot of it that required some Magi power to get done in under an hour; we had a wrap-up visit with Mom and Dad in the office along with a bedtime snack; and that brings us to the bedtime twin chat and computer checks wrap-up to our long, busy day.  Cassie and Michael are already into their final full day in Singapore – Thursday there; and now we’re really getting excited about having them home on Saturday.  They might not be feeling quite as excited, since they will be having a last work day in Singapore on Friday and then they’ll have a very long trip home, but we’ll help them out with getting happier once they are back!

As for the world news update, it seems as though the news of the day is all about energy wars.  In Ukraine, a top story is about the Ukrainian forces attacking Russian gas pipelines to stop the flow of natural gas to Europe – a bad idea considering the current problems in the Middle East; and we’ll guess that at least some of their European war backers will not be happy if they succeed.  As for the Middle East, there have been more attacks on oil and gas facilities; ships have been targeted when attempting to traverse the Straits of Hormuz; and some countries are starting to release oil from their strategic reserves already – a temporary measure that will depress prices while causing long-term problems if they do that for more than a few weeks.  Add in the actual losses from storage destruction around the Middle East; and our leaders should be looking at what could be a long-term economic disaster.  On a related note to that, we also want to mention that the Middle East is a significant player in the fertilizer production business.  Natural gas is needed to produce the ammonia for the fertilizer; so if natural gas isn’t being pumped or converted to LNG; they also aren’t making ammonia or fertilizer.  Add in the oil needed to transport the millions of tons of fertilizer around the world; and that will become another problem for spring planting for farms everywhere.  Yes, we know that won’t be an availability issue here in our country anytime soon, but it will be a price and cost issue for the farmers and transport companies and producers as all fuel prices go up.  We could go on about the economics for all related products and supply chains for everything from plastics to clothes and electronics, but that’s enough for tonight.

The death and destruction rolls on in the Middle East, Ukraine, and elsewhere with no end in sight; and we can only continue to hope for better even when that seems very unlikely.  For now, we’re tired and ready to get some sleep – so we will.

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

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

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 27^th Birthday, Martin Rice!

Happy 11^th Birthday, Marcus Malloy!

We did some vid-chats this morning with the Malloys and with Martin and Kimberly; gifts were sent and there for them too; and that was the extent of our involvement in their special days.

Here at home, the weather was the news of the day as the high reached ninety and we had a mostly-sunny day until the rain moved in this evening.  We would have loved extra outdoor time to enjoy that and got a bit of that at school, but then we were busy with our school band practice and teen praise team practice before and after dinner.  That meal was with Mom and Dad; and we grilled some of the food, but Ethan and I only had time to help with the work on either side of the meal; do our homework; and move on to the music play time at the church.  We had fun with all of the music, but the trade-off is that we didn’t get to play with our friends and cousins that were able to go biking and play outside for a few hours; and we didn’t get much work done tonight after we got home – mostly because Mom didn’t want us staying up late again tonight.

Ethan and I missed out on the vid-chat with Cassie and Michael again, but they’re having a good Wednesday-so-far in Singapore; the weather was only a bit warmer than here; and they’re getting some rain there too every day – though they get lots of breaks between the rain too and are still having a lot of fun along with all of the work.  As for the world news report, we don’t want to get into another rant, but do want to mention that the powers that be are doing their very best right now to push commodity prices down from the brink of the weekend panic for energy prices; they’ll be able to do that for a while; and then more shocks will hit as long as the war with Iran continues and the impacts on supply chains and economics spread.  The attack targets continue to escalate; the lies continue on both sides; and we’ll all have to wait and see whether this will be another limited conflict or stretch out into a years-long battle.  Finally, before we wrap this up; let’s also add that this is far from the first time that western leaders have prematurely declared imminent victory.  We don’t believe that will happen; and that’s why we’re also praying that our leaders won’t take the insanity to a nuclear level that could lead to blowing up the world.

Let’s stop there; since we really do want to get some sleep – so we will.

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

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

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 15^th Birthday, Joshua Reynolds!

Our friend and classmate is happiest about joining the club of new drivers today, but his family and friends have done our best to help him out with having a happy day too.  His birthday adventures were highlights of our school day – including during our lunch break and between classes – though our teachers didn’t give us the day off from our lessons too.  The weather was great, though, so we did have some bonus outdoor time as the high of the day topped seventy by lunchtime.  It kept warming into the eighties by the time we were set free from school for the day; which is why Joshua’s party included biking the trails at the park and an outdoor dinner in the back yard along with some bonus outdoor play time.  We did eventually go indoors for that video gaming and the movie; though we’ll add that some of us helped with the post-dinner clean-up too.  Joshua liked his gifts and we covered all of the usual birthday roasting and desserts fun; and there was a fair bit of co-ed cuddle time this evening for the couples that wanted to do that along with the digital entertainment.

We didn’t get home until around eleven o’clock, so Mom didn’t want us to work in the office, but we did do a Magi lesson with her; and caught up on the latest news from our parents’ day – though we’ll mention that there were some obvious gaps in their stories that we don’t want the details for when those gaps only happened when they were together and kid-free!  Ethan and I missed out on the vid-chat with Cassie and Michael, but they are doing well; and are busy again today – their Tuesday in Singapore.  For the record, it is still warmer there than here, but highs in the nineties for them doesn’t feel as-unfair to us on a day as awesome as ours has been!  Perspective is a beautiful thing.

Moving along, we still managed to spend more than an hour with Mom and Dad before we all came upstairs; bath or Jacuzzi time was needed and next; and now we’re ready to wrap this up with the world news report.  As expected, the oil prices on the world markets is volatile after the weekend attacks on oil infrastructure throughout the Middle East; and it is a bit amazing to have a trading range of nearly thirty dollars a barrel when the price a month ago was barely more than double that number in the low-sixties.  Attempts are being made to mitigate the upward pressure as production and transport of oil from the Middle East declines significantly – and some supplies are also destroyed, but we’ll point out that draining world reserves is only a temporary measure that also puts countries at risk for future problems in the event of other potential emergencies like natural disasters.  The total deaths and injuries are now semi-officially in the tens of thousands with more than fourteen thousand in Iran alone.

Other news from the Middle East is that Iran’s council of experts have elected their next Supreme Leader; ‘our’ leaders have already threatened to kill him too; and that proves that our leaders have learned nothing from the first round of assassinations.  Let’s also mention that one of the other top Shia clerics – this one in Iraq – has issued a declaration exhorting all Muslims to rise up and defend Iran.  Sunni Muslims would not follow his edicts, but there are sure to be Shia Muslims that will join the fight – and we have mentioned that there are between two and three-hundred million Shia Muslims in the world.  There are also companies in the Middle East shutting down operations because of the war – especially oil and natural gas producers, but there is also a huge impact on tourism; the airline industry; and transportation of all kinds.  There are worries about food security too, since some of the Middle East countries import most of their food; and that’s a problem with shipping lanes are closed.  Life becomes very unpredictable when food becomes scarce; and that could cause even-more trouble and unrest in every country that has that risk.

While the Middle East gets most of the attention again today for obvious reasons; we’re continuing to see stories about plans to take over Cuba – though why we ‘need’ to do that remains a mystery to everyone except the rich and depraved.  Cuba is not a threat to our country in any way; so regime change is all about a country having the audacity to choose not to be another vassal State of the empire.  We haven’t heard much about Greenland lately, but taking that territory over is still on the to-do list for our President – along with all of the Central and South American countries that aren’t already vassals of our country.  Canada could be on the takeover hit list too, but that’s a more-distant acquisition target.

All of these plans could be ended if the Iran war leads to a major global economic depression; since it gets tough to pay for wars when taxes crash government ability to spend.  We haven’t even touched on economic impacts on the rest of the world, but for a local example; we can report that the farmers around here are concerned about a major price increase for fuel and fertilizer costs heading into the spring planting season; since those costs can quickly destroy profitability before even getting started on the usual annual risks for weather and crop prices.  Everyone in the world could be looking at major inflation for food prices by this coming summer and fall.

Let’s stop with that; since we’re sure to have more to rant about again tomorrow night.  It is late, though, and we need to nap while we still can; so that’s all for this report.

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

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

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 27^th Birthday, Luke Taylor!

We passed along best birthday wishes to Luke for Cassie and Michael while at church this morning, but that was the entirety of our involvement in his celebration with family and friends.  Ethan and I got to meet Skye Reynolds this morning too, but that was another cameo moment that didn’t last long; since the newest member of our town was in high demand while being introduced to everyone today.

As for our news of the day, Uncle Adam’s birthday dinner was fun along with a fair bit of work on both sides of the meal and the kid control help we offered for younger cousins and next-gen kids.  We had Naomi and Aiden with us for the meal and when we brought those cousins and kids home with us from the dinner; and then we were all kept busy for the rest of the night with keeping the kids entertained while our parents were collectively having fun at the pub.  Mom and Dad were not designated drivers last night; and they came home comparatively-early too; since they weren’t getting a kid-free night.  Mom managed to avoid any billiards challenges, but they did do a bit of dancing; and enjoyed the time out with their friends.  By the time they got home, we had the youngest kids in their beds; most of the girls were either sleeping or winding down toward nap time; and only Zack, Eli, and some of the other guys were still up and playing video games in the lounge.

Naomi and I left it up toe Ethan and Aiden to keep them out of trouble, but we all had a visit with Mom and Dad; and then we joined the girls and went off to sleep soon after Mom and Dad went to bed.  The boys stayed up later; Ethan and Aiden headed to their beds by around two o’clock; and Zack and Eli eventually just fell asleep in the lounge with the video gaming rolling on without them.

Our Sunday morning started with Tai Chi by the river; breakfast was an adventure; and we were kept busy getting everyone fed, ready for the day, and to the church on time.  We had a good morning with the service and Sunday school; Ethan and I were on our own when we went home with Mom and Dad; and took care of some clean-up chores through until we had lunch.  Ethan and I met up with some cousins and friends after that meal; we decided to bike to Quarry Lake; and had fun with the ride and a bit of wandering around at our favorite campground while enjoying the sunshine and the high that climbed into the mid-sixties.  Some of us needed to be home in time for one of the buffets at the Inn, but we didn’t do that tonight; and had a quiet dinner with Mom and Dad.  Ethan and I helped with the cooking and clean-up; and then we worked in the office and did a Magi lesson with Mom too.

While we kept busy with the family business and charity projects, we had a vid-chat with Cassie and Michael too – this time from Singapore for them on their Monday morning.  We’re happy about that because Singapore is their last stop before they head home; so it really feels like we’re close to the end of their trip!  They are going to be doing more business meetings this week; since this stop is all about finance, logistics, and shipping interests and projects that we are working on for multiple businesses and charities.  Cassie and Michael are getting a bit tired; so they’re looking forward to getting home again soon too.

That brings us up to the world news update; and there isn’t good news to share tonight.  The Iran war is expanding; the American and Israeli forces have started bombing oil refineries and storage tanks and desalination plants in Iran; and retaliations are starting in Israel and other Middle East countries.  This is a horrific change in tactics that will devastate the environment; risk the health of millions of civilians that won’t have clean drinking water, and cost tens of billions of dollars in economic harm – or more; since destroyed energy infrastructure can take years to rebuild.

Just to add a bit of a math lesson, we use around one hundred million barrels of oil per day worldwide; so every ten dollar per barrel increase in price costs the world a billion dollars a day – and that’s before you add in all of the pass-through costs to final use products that add much more to those extra costs.  On that note, first-week costs of the war are likely in the tens of billions of dollars between the cost of operations and weapons being expended on both sides along with the costs of what is being destroyed all across the Middle East.  For one example, Iran is reporting upwards of ten thousand buildings damaged or destroyed – most of them civilian homes and businesses; and none of the militaries are disclosing damage to their bases, equipment, or deaths and injuries for military personnel.  That isn’t a surprise during a war, but there are significant costs that go far beyond economic.

Before we move on from that war, we also want to mention that President Trump and others have been talking about expanding the war instead of trying to find a peaceful settlement – and we can assure you that Iran will not be accepting ‘unconditional surrender’ as an option for them.  The worries we have are because our leaders are considering sending in ground forces; and aren’t excluding the possible use of nukes against Iran if they can’t get them to capitulate with conventional warfare.  Both are insane; our leaders have not learned from history; and we will be on our way to another Vietnam or Afghanistan debacle if we continue down this path.

Let’s move on to Ukraine, since we should learn from that disaster too – and haven’t; since western leaders still want to keep that war going too instead of negotiating for peace there.  We do need to mention that some oil sanctions on Russia are being paused because of the war in Iran; and that will just add a lot of revenue for Russia – especially as the price per barrel keeps going up!  So much for the plan to destroy their economy with the sanctions, but then Ukraine also has the new added problem of not having access to new weapons deliveries because everything is being diverted to the Iran war – especially when it comes to air defense systems and offensive missiles.  Russia does not have that problem; so they are continuing the non-stop attacks with missiles and drones every day.  The frontlines stories are all bad for Ukraine too; and that could get a lot worse soon once the spring thaw ends and the ground hardens up again by mid to late April.  That isn’t a prediction of imminent defeat – and that’s a lesson that we should keep in mind for the Iran war.  Ukraine started their war with upwards of a million soldiers and the vast weapons support worth hundreds of billions of dollars from western countries; and they are still having their country destroyed a little at a time over more than four years now.  Iran is larger with two or three times the population; so it makes no sense to believe that they can be defeated in a week or two.  Let’s also note that Russia does not look at war the same way that western countries and leaders do; since they definitely do not think that it is acceptable to assassinate or kidnap leaders of other countries.  Before we get off-track; we also wanted to point out that Russia has not won their fight with Ukraine in four years even with all of the bombing and a ground force of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.  Yes, that is partly because they do not want to kill civilians indiscriminately, but they are also having serious issues with changing modern warfare that includes tech and intel capabilities that have changed the look of battlefields and tactics.

Both wars are ugly, but then so are the economic and political problems elsewhere in the world.  Cuba and Central America continue to be dangerous hotspots; we really don’t think that President Trump should start another war with Cuba; and there was news over the weekend about a new ‘partnership’ with countries across the Americas to go to war with the cartels.  We wish that there weren’t any criminal groups at all, but that is not going to work – just as the war on drugs hasn’t really worked for the past fifty or sixty years.  That’s another can of worms that we should probably save for another update; since we’ve already done enough of a rant for one night!

Ethan and I are going to head off to dreamland soon; since we want to be back at full-power ahead of our last school week before our spring break.  We’re ready to have that week off; and hope that we’ll get some nice weather while we get the time to play with our family and friends.  We’ll have more on that when we get there, but that’s all for tonight; so we’re out of here right now.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - March 7, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 42^nd Birthday, Uncle Adam!

Congratulations, Alexandria, Alex, and their families – it’s a girl!

Skye Reynolds was born last night at a bit after eight o’clock; Mom and baby are doing great; and they kept our doctors and nurse busy overnight as they took turns caring for them at the clinic.  We expect to meet Skye at church tomorrow, and she went home with her family early this afternoon, but if she’s not ready to make her first public appearance tomorrow; we’re sure to meet her sometime over the next week or so either at church or elsewhere.  Before we get to Uncle Adam’s birthday news-so-far; let’s cover the rest of our story from last night.

We had fun with the biking and park play time; came home in time to help Mom and Dad with the cooking prep work; and then we helped with kid control through dinner and into the evening.  As mentioned, Uncle Adam, Uncle Mark, and Aunt Deborah did not make it to that dinner, but Mom and Dad sent extra food to the clinic – and enough to help feed at least some of the family waiting there for the new baby arrival.  Our evening fun included movies, video gaming, and a bit of ‘live’ music fun; we kept some cousins overnight to help the medical experts and their spouses; and we didn’t get to have any co-ed sleepovers with our four best friends.  Everything was still fun; and we can even report that Zack and Eli didn’t give us a tough time last night.

The rain rolled in last night too; it cooled down to around freezing; and that’s why Tai Chi was indoors this morning.  We had extra exercise buddies; breakfast was a rush between cooking and clean-up and getting everyone ready for the day.  Ethan and I did not have best friends’ help for our chores day.  We worked indoors while it rained and stayed cold at home, Cassie and Michael’s house, and two cottages; we did some yard work this afternoon; and now we’re getting cleaned up and setting up the third floor for our babysitting plans for tonight.  We’ll be attending Uncle Adam’s birthday dinner first, but we’ll be on kid control for that too; and then we’ll host the kids here while most of our favorite adults continue that birthday party at the pub.  That’s why we’re doing this update early too and we need to get back to work before we head out to that dinner; so let’s wrap this up.

Cassie and Michael haven’t started their Sunday in Vietnam yet, but they will be doing that soon; and they are going to have an awesome weather day for their final hours in the Ho Chi Minh City area with sunny skies and a high in the mid-nineties.  They’ll be in Singapore before we get around to our next update; and we’re really looking forward to the countdown to their return home next Saturday.

We’re going to skip most of the world news report for today, but want to mention that there were reports today that Iran might be stopping their attacks on their ‘neighbors’ at least temporarily, but the commentary on that story is a bit useless; and Iran didn’t say anything about stopping attacks further away in Israel or elsewhere for non-neighbors.  We’ll predict that Iran is just adapting their war strategy, but we don’t know – and doubt that anyone else does either.

Check out our next update; since we are definitely going to need to offer a full weekend world news update and rant, since even with our cursory check of the news highlights this afternoon; we are seriously disgusted by many of our world and national leaders with their complete disregard for the death and destruction they are cheering for while admitting that the real reasons are all about power, wealth, and controlling and exploiting the natural resources and people of the world.  I really want to take the time to rant now, but while we could do a time phase and ‘make’ time for that; we don’t want to wear ourselves out ahead of that babysitting; so we won’t do that!  We also need to go; so that’s all for this report.

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