Catching the Magic

Two Brits in Aotearoa bringing up three little 'Kiwis'. Our children: Our future. Haere Mai!

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Month: July 2011

Silent Sunday

July 31, 2011 BritMumInNZ 19 Comments School hols, Silent Sunday

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Discipline and dance

July 31, 2011July 31, 2011 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments Charlotte

Discipline in dance is essential, but it’s hard for a natural dancer to keep still when the body impulsively moves to any rhythm. At the end of a week’s dance workshop, in preparation for her next American Jazz exam, Charlotte’s class was opened up for parents to watch. We were definitely a distraction, especially with […]

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Lyrical Sunday Theme for Week 26: Adventure

July 30, 2011August 6, 2011 BritMumInNZ 1 Comment Alice, Charlotte, Lyrical Sunday

Charlotte observed her little sister Alice having an adventure in her paddling pool boat this week (a rare mid-winter outdoor water play session!). She put together a photo collage and poem, using Picasa, without any assistance from me. She challenges us to… ‘Write a poem about adventure or share a poem you’ve read, a story […]

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Writer’s Workshop: Channelling the Energy

July 28, 2011April 1, 2012 BritMumInNZ 15 Comments Sarah, Sophie, Walks, Writing

When the ‘boss’ and I our conceived our daughter, Sophie, I reckon a strong dose of my sister’s genes were thrown into the mix. And, unbeknown to Dan and I, there was going to be a strong contender in the house as to who was really ‘the boss’! Of course my husband and I harp […]

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Winter school hols are rolling on

July 26, 2011 BritMumInNZ 5 Comments School hols

New Zealand has been put under a snowy spell (at least the high ground and much of the South Island – check out this stunning aerial picture). Even parts of greater Wellington were covered in white (visit Domestic Executive and Latte Junkie for their snow experiences). If I didn’t have school holiday dance classes to […]

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Wordless Sunday: Liquid

July 24, 2011July 24, 2011 BritMumInNZ 12 Comments Alice, photography, Silent Sunday, Sophie

__________________________________________________________ There’s plenty of wet stuff sweeping across New Zealand this weekend, with an icy blast from the south bringing snow to lower levels than have been seen in a long time. For us it has been a rug up warm weekend. Lego, board games, music and dancing. This afternoon there was plenty of delightful […]

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Lyrical Sunday – Week 25: Musical Instruments

July 23, 2011July 24, 2011 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Lyrical Sunday

Welcome to Week 25 of Lyrical Sunday! Lyrical Sunday this week is themed on ‘Musical Instruments‘. If you’re new to Lyrical Sunday, please click here to read about how it began (I have an inspiring daughter who tries hard to keep her ‘ole Mum’s brain ticking!) and to read poems from earlier weeks. We have […]

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Things Alice is Loving at 17 months…

July 23, 2011July 23, 2011 BritMumInNZ 10 Comments Alice, Loving & Not Loving

Linking up with Paisley Jade….

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The Gallery: Vintage

July 21, 2011July 21, 2011 BritMumInNZ 6 Comments photography, School hols

We had a bit of mid-winter fun here in New Zealand today. We visited Capital E, where they are holding a ‘Summer Scorcher‘ of entertainment over the two-week winter school holidays.  Today was the first day of inclement weather in Wellington for the holidays, so we timed our visit perfectly. Whilst the rain did its […]

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Theme for Week 25 Lyrical Sunday…

July 19, 2011July 19, 2011 BritMumInNZ 2 Comments Charlotte, Life in action - Videos, Lyrical Sunday, Sophie

Charlotte and Sophie have set the theme for ‘Week 25’ of ‘Lyrical Sunday‘ as ‘Musical Instruments‘. Here’s some ideas… Do you play an instrument? If so, how does it make you feel to play? Perhaps you love to listen to a particular instrument? What instrument and why do you love it? Maybe you tried to […]

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Wordless Sunday: Motion

July 17, 2011July 17, 2011 BritMumInNZ 9 Comments Alice, photography

____________________________________________________ I really wish I’d had my decent camera with me today, as there was so much ‘motion’ at Lyall Bay, with kite-surfers, sea-gulls, airplanes and my girls running on the beach. I had to make do with my phone camera, but still had fun trying to capture the motion. This week’s theme for ‘Wordless […]

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Lyrical Sunday is Dancing!

July 17, 2011July 19, 2011 BritMumInNZ 6 Comments Lyrical Sunday

Welcome to Week 24 of Lyrical Sunday! This week we are dancing! Come and join us if you feel like it. Link up below with a poem or song. What makes you feel like dancing? Couldn’t resist this gem from the seventies (yes, I was a seventies born gal!). Moving to the beat I can’t […]

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Things I’m Loving…

July 15, 2011October 25, 2011 BritMumInNZ 11 Comments Alice, Charlotte, Loving & Not Loving, Sarah, Sophie, Walks

Finding natural treasures on the beach after wild winter storms. Moments in the sun, despite cold winter chills. Hearing the day-dreams of my daughter, which bring a smile to my face and warm my heart, ‘I’m going to have a boat one day and you can sail with me Mummy’. Messages of adventure from family […]

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The Gallery: Travel

July 13, 2011July 13, 2011 BritMumInNZ 12 Comments Blasts from the past, Dan, Holidays, photography, Sarah

From ever since I can remember I wanted to travel. When I was a girl my dear father would spend half the year working overseas – in stints of a fortnight in Germany, a week in Norway, a few weeks in France or the United States of America. I only have happy memories of those […]

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Welcome to the ramblings & photographs of a British expat Mum living mostly in Wellington (aka *coffee capital of the world*), New Zealand, since 1997.

This blog is a way to preserve sanity whilst raising children, capture the magic in the chaos, and share tales with family, friends, fellow parents and expats.

Along with my British born husband we have been bringing up our three Kiwi born daughters in the land of sheep, kiwi fruit and fine wine, since 2003 (with a brief 16 months living in Santa Barbara, California - where we home educated our daughters). We both first landed on New Zealand soil in 1996 (hubby) and 1997 (myself) - as fresh graduates from the UK wanting to live and work overseas... our 'OE' turned into something a lot longer and more life changing than we could ever have first anticipated!

Thank you for stopping by (if you would like to know more visit the 'About' page!).
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Recent Posts

  • One week into 2021 January 10, 2021
  • Festive greetings from Aotearoa! December 23, 2020
  • Term 4 and winding down to the last days of school for 2020 December 1, 2020
  • ‘HELLO’ November 24, 2020
  • A spring holiday in Wanaka and Queenstown’s outdoor playgrounds! November 1, 2020
  • End of Term 3! October 2, 2020
  • Before the pandemic! ‘Six’ the musical in Sydney September 26, 2020
  • I miss her, Mum, even though she’s not gone. July 23, 2020
  • Our ‘bubble’ of 5 million has done it! June 9, 2020
  • Reflections on coming out of seven weeks of lockdown in New Zealand May 13, 2020
  • Reminiscing on the second half of 2019 and our summer highlights April 19, 2020
  • Visits to my folks in England, Sept. 2019 & March 2020 – with plentiful National Trust visits! April 15, 2020

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