Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - March 29, 2026

Ehlana and Ethan:

Palm Sunday in our little town is a special church event; and our Pastors treat it as the celebration that it was during the actual event.  That is intentional, because they want their congregation to feel a small version of the experience of joy and excitement that will contrast dramatically to the horrors that were just days away from happening to Jesus between that exuberant welcome and the crucifixion.  The service was wonderful; the music celebratory; and everyone moved on from the church feeling the exact high that Pastor John evoked in us.

We kept those feelings with us through lunch and into an afternoon of fun with family and friends that included a bike ride that this time was on the trail that heads south of town toward the rail trail connection.  That was a longer ride than we wanted to do today, but we headed out for an hour or so; did some exploring along the way and back again; and wrapped up with some back yard play time before we all split up for various dinner and evening plans.  Ethan and I were with Mom and Dad for dinner and the evening; Cassie and Michael were busy with their nieces and nephews; and our best friends were hanging out with their own families again tonight.

Our dinner was grilled with cold sides; Ethan and I helped with the work on both sides of the meal; and then our evening included a Magi lesson; some family business work; and bath or Jacuzzi time that brings us up to right now.  Getting some sleep is next on our to-do list, and we are tired thanks to the exercise and time-phased work; so let’s cover the world news and then call it a night.

The latest from the Iran war includes more attacks on both sides; and while the latest from Iran includes bombing of Universities and schools; Iran’s retaliations include attacks on aluminum factories and air bases.  There are reports that at least one AWACS het was destroyed in Saudi Arabia, and if true, that’s another billion-dollar bill for our taxpayers.  More talk of peace isn’t credible to us, but there are reports that other countries are making deals with Iran to get passage for their ships through the Strait of Hormuz.  Our leaders are attempting to take credit for that, but we know it isn’t true; and economic deals were made – likely tolls paid for each passage.  There was a meeting in Turkey too, but since Iran wasn’t involved; we doubt that those diplomats accomplished anything.  A ground offensive is still more-likely than not; and there may be as many as ten-thousand more troops on the way to the region in addition to the thousands already there now.  As we’ve mentioned before, that will be an insanely-stupid disaster if they try to do that; so we can only hope for someone to stop that plan before it is too late.

On the Ukraine front, one of the most-interesting stories of the day was about suspected Ukrainian drones crashing in Finland.  If true, that would mean that Ukraine has been getting permission to use the airspace to send drones against Russia.  Finland leaders are not saying much about those drones; which makes them look complicit in the war with Russia.  That is a minor story compared to the actual death and destruction happening in Ukraine and to a lesser extent in Russia.  It says something about world media to note that drones crashing in the wrong place gets more attention than all of the fighting along the front lines or hundreds of missile and drone strikes.  That’s also a distinct difference between the top two wars going on right now; since all of the ‘pretty’ explosions and fires in the Middle East are still new and exciting while the fifth year of the Ukraine war is ‘boring’ despite the fact that those bombs, missiles, and drones are just as destructive as anything happening in the Middle East.

Okay, that’s enough for tonight.  We need to get some sleep; so we’re going to get started on doing that right now.

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

 

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

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 4^th Birthday, James Connor!

We didn’t have anything to do with James’ special day, but mention it because he is a friend of some of our favorite next-gen cousins; and Cassie and Michael did help with and attend the party with some of those kids.

Our day wasn’t that exciting.  We had chores all morning after coming home from Sophia’s house; we work-played at the lab or archives after lunch; and we’ve had a quiet night at home without any overnight guests.  Dinner was a bit late; we took care of the clean-up; and then we worked in the office for a few hours this evening – mostly so that Dad could get his work done.  Mom did a Magi lesson with us too; and then we moved on to bath or Jacuzzi time by ten o’clock.  Now we’re winding down toward nap time, but before we do that; let’s cover the rest of our Friday news.

As mentioned, Sophia hosted a larger group of our friends after school; we started out with some biking on the trails and park play time while enjoying the sunshine and hot weather.  Dinner was grilled and outdoors with salad and finger food sides; we helped with the work on both sides of that meal; and then our evening included some video gaming; movies; and lots of co-ed cuddle time and teen chat.  Sophia only had her five best friends stay overnight; we stayed up too-late; and really did only have time for co-ed naps before we needed to be up again this morning.  Tai Chi was by the river; we had a hot breakfast; and then we all split up for the rest of the day because our best friends had other plans for the day too.

That brings us up to date; so let’s wrap up with a quick world news report.  The Iran war stays at the top of the news cycle, and while we can report that a ground war hasn’t started yet; more troops are apparently on the way – along with another aircraft carrier group.  Attacks on Iran have escalated and now include bombing factories and civilian nuclear facilities and power plants.  Iran has started retaliating in-kind; and both sides are now risking potential nuclear disasters if they succeed in destroying reactors and causing one or more meltdowns.  The Houthis in Yemen have joined in with first attacks on Israel and threats to close the Red Sea; there are major militias in Iraq attacking ‘western’ military bases and facilities; and the battles in Lebanon are escalating too as Hezbollah forces are fighting the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon.

President Trump made some vulgar and insensitive remarks about the Saudi Crown Prince and Iran and, well, pretty much everyone from NATO leaders to the people of the Middle East; and we are sure that more people are coming to see just how delusional our leaders are about pretty much everything going on in the world right now.  Yes, we can impose our will on the world, but that shouldn’t happen at any cost; and we definitely shouldn’t project that power just because we can and want to gain more power and wealth at the expense of other people.  Israel’s leaders are just as bad; and they are to the point now where they happily admit to their war crimes overtly without any concern about consequences from the international community.

Let’s stop there, since we don’t want to go to bed angry – especially when we don’t have our favorite cuddle buddies to nap with tonight!  Our parents do like to spend time with us without extra guests now and then, though, so we can do that for them now and then.  While we get some sleep, stay tuned; and we’ll try to have a more-exciting blast of adventures to write about tomorrow night!

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

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

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 15^th Birthday, Jayden Proctor!

Yes, our cousin has joined the driver’s club today, but we weren’t involved in his special day beyond a breakfast vid-chat and the gifts we sent to him.

Here at home, it was chilly this morning, but we still went outdoors for Tai Chi by the river; followed that up with a hot breakfast; and then our academic adventures were fun and not at all newsworthy.  Ethan and I are only home to pack overnight bags and have a quick visit with Mom because Sophia offered to host her friends for the rest of the day; and we’ll be among the best friends staying overnight for the co-ed sleepover.  Those stories will have to wait for our next report; since we need to get going soon and won’t be doing any bedtime computing.

We’re also going to skip the world news update because we want to stay happy.  Everyone is waiting to see whether the war will expand to actual ground invasion this weekend, but while we’ll hope that our leaders won’t go there; we’re going to go and enjoy the rest of the day with our friends and not worry about things that we can’t change anyway – and we’ll get to doing that right now.

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

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

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 15^th Birthday, Natalie Morris!

Natalie’s party and birthday is our top news of the day, but the great weather was amazing for everyone with the sun and a high that topped ninety this afternoon.  That was great for Natalie’s party too; and we were outdoors for a lot of the fun between the end of our school day and the party wind-down movie that we watched for the last hour and a half or so of the evening.

Tonight we want to write about the relationships side of a friends’ party.  For Natalie, that starts for us with her mother – our Spanish teacher.  Other than at school, we don’t spend much time with her; and I guess that’s true for most of Natalie’s closest friends because they are more-likely to be at other homes.  That’s likely partly because she’s a teacher, but also because Natalie and her boyfriend, Blair Benton, are part of the group that hangs out with Caroline Carter and Miles Sheldon.  Yes, we all hang out together fairly-often too, but just as Ethan and I have our closest friends; that’s true for other small groups of our classmates and friends.  Natalie’s father, George, is also a long-term employee of Carter Construction and a talented builder; so she has that link to Caroline too.  That is why this was another birthday where we were on the edges of the fun with our friends instead of at the center; we’re okay with that; and we still helped Natalie’s parents with some of the work too as we usually do when that’s an option.

Natalie had fun with everything from the bike ride we went on after school to the back yard games and beyond to the birthday dinner with her favorites and the usual birthday cakes dessert.  There was more outdoor play time after the meal; some video gaming for the guys; and then the movie that included lots of co-ed cuddle time for Ethan and I with Naomi or Aiden.  Let’s also mention that Natalie got her driver’s permit this morning too and is happy about that; and we’ll add that we probably won’t mention that milestone for any of our friends that don’t pass those tests on the first try.  That doesn’t really happen very often around here for the beginner’s permits or even for the tests for each next-level of licenses, but it does happen now and then; and we won’t add to the embarrassment even if that is only in our archives.  We’re also not judging; and don’t think about those kinds of problems being important in the grand scheme of teen life – even if our friends wouldn’t agree with that assessment.

Moving along, while we were at the party, Mom and Dad had dinner with Cassie and Michael; they all went to game night at the Inn, and Mom was partnered with Miranda so they could still get a senior team title this month after not getting to do that on spring break.  They had more fun than we want to know about; we all had a chat and visit after we got home; and then it was bath or Jacuzzi time again.  I took more time doing that than Ethan did, so he took care of more of the computer checks; and passed those news stories along to me while I enjoyed the longer soak in my tub.  It is getting very late and we need to get some sleep; so let’s cover the world news update with a quick summary and then we’ll move on to nap time.

Our world leaders are insane and they are more-likely to escalate the conflicts than agree to peace!  Is that fast-enough for you?  It is a fairly-accurate summary; since actual diplomatic negotiations seem to be entirely fictional while both sides of the Iran war appear to be preparing for the next escalations.  Israeli leaders have ordered more-massive air strikes on Iran; President Trump is still sending thousands of troops and more weapons to the region; and Iran is simply preparing to defend against everything that is thrown at them.  History is totally being ignored; and all of our leaders have not true care for the costs – especially when it comes to destroying human life.  As we’re thinking about that; we doubt that any of the leaders are even thinking about the costs to animal life, but those costs must be atrocious now too.  That makes us mad to even think about; since it really is cruel to destroy wildlife, domestic pets and animals, and their habitats.

Maybe we’ll binge-watch the Zoo series this weekend!  If you haven’t heard of that one in our future; it was a show about the animals of the world collectively fighting back against humans and taking back their planet.  That is a fun thought to take into dreamland, but don’t take that the wrong way; since we’d be perfectly fine around here if that happened thanks to our ability to talk to the animals! ;^)

Okay, we obviously need the 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 - March 25, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

We’re back to summer-like weather for a couple of days; and that’s why we started our day with Tai Chi by the river that was only cool instead of cold; and then the high this afternoon passed the mid-eighties with lots of sunshine!  Ethan and I biked with our friends after school; had an outdoor, grilled dinner with Mom and Dad; and then we work-played at the lab or archives after we took care of the clean-up.  Time phasing allowed us to put about eight hours of work in with our books or beakers; we did that while still getting home by a bit after ten o’clock;   We did a visit with Mom and Dad; moved on to bath or Jacuzzi time because we needed that after the outdoor play time; and now we’re winding down fast toward nap time and are tired after all of the play and work time.

There are a few world news stories we want to cover tonight, but want to make that quick too; so let’s get right to that now.  The peace talks look more like a total farce today as ‘our’ side has a sixteen point plan that is ridiculous and will never be accepted by Iran without a total surrender.  For ‘their’ side; Iran is continuing with demands just to start talks that include dropping sanctions; removing all American troops and navy and air forces from the region; stopping the attacks; and agreeing to pay reparations for damages.  America and Israel will not agree to any of that; so there is no chance of talks going anywhere.  There have been reports of another American jet being shot down into the Indian Ocean today; and news that the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier will be out of service for a year while being repaired from what is still being claimed was a laundry fire that somehow burned for thirty hours.  There are pictures floating around that suggest something else happened, but if we ever find out the truth; it won’t likely be anytime soon.  Attacks on both sides continued all day; infrastructure is still being targeted; and troops are still heading toward the war zone and expectations of some level of ground invasion into Iran.

Let’s stop there; since we’re sure that we have no control over what is going to happen next in that war; and can only hope that we can help through the family businesses and charities whenever that will be possible without putting our regional partners at unacceptable risks.  We’ve had an awesome day; tomorrow will hopefully be as-amazing with another hot and sunny day; so we need to rest up to be ready for all of the fun!

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