Calista wasn’t satisfied with her recent haircut. She didn’t like her fringe hanging in her eyes, and she didn’t want to keep tucking it behind her ears. So she cut it.

Calista gets fed up with having hair in her eyes and decides to give herself a trim.

Calista proudly shows off her new hairstyle — David has trimmed some of the more obvious loose ends.

Watching my girl-child cut her hair is a very difficult thing for me to do. However, I believe it’s a necessary step in modelling a life that is not dependent on the opinion of others.

Almost two years ago, I received a revelation that I was unnecessarily forcing our children to conform to society’s standard of beauty. After repenting, I stopped dressing our girls and dictating how they should look.

Now I’m been stretched again. I’m learning to show Calista that she is cute and beautiful, even with a well-scissored hairstyle. Besides, it’s just hair and grows back so quickly! (I also reassure myself that Cali is so cute she could pull off any hairstyle…)

On rainy nights, it's wonderful to have access to an outdoor shelter like this one.

When visiting Kaitaia, we often park out the back of the Te Ahu Centre, where we have access to shelter, concrete paths for scootering and even external power points! We’re thankful to have somewhere to hang out while Calista creates a new look.

Early in the morning, Aisha woke me up to give me her front tooth. After wiggling it for days, it finally fell out while she was sleeping. This is Aisha’s first tooth that has fallen out without being a shark tooth.

Aisha uses her tongue to test out the new hole in her mouth. There's something delightful and fun about the space where a tooth used to be.

It's going to take a while to get used to Aisha's gappy smile. She has now lost three teeth.

It’s been startling to see Aisha’s gappy smile during the day. All of a sudden, she’s looking quite grown-up, and sometimes I don’t recognise her as the little girl who has journeyed with us thus far.

Losing teeth marks the first physical transition point from childhood to adulthood, and as Aisha approaches us with remarkable questions, observations and personal insights, we can see that she is growing into a really special, sensitive woman.

One of Aisha’s greatest strength is her quickness to forgive. While she sleeps on the floor of the truck, she often gets stepped on by her sisters (or parents!). However, after responding with a squeal or groan, she’ll say “that’s okay” to the offered apology, even once kissing my foot that had just stepped on her hair! I love to see this beautiful quality in her, for it shows me how to let things go easily without holding grudges!

Playing at the beach, travelling and shopping proved to be too much excitement for one little girl today.

Delaney falls asleep in the shopping trolley after a long day out.

While shopping at this local supermarket, I supervised our girls’ use of the bathroom and left my purse behind. The next person who used the toilet turned it into the service counter — with all its money intact! Amazingly kind encounters like this remind me how wonderful the world can be when we embrace it with love.