Catching the Magic

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

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Month: October 2011

Apple bobbing Halloween in the southern hemisphere

October 31, 2011 BritMumInNZ 1 Comment Alice, Charlotte, Sophie, Special Days

Our Bright Light Party did the trick in welcoming the sunshine and giving us a hint of summer to shortly come. Apple bobbing is a whole lot of fun when the weather is warm enough to do it in the garden like this…. Sophie enthusiastically got bobbing too, with great results! And Happy Halloween 2011 […]

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A blaze of light hit home this weekend

October 30, 2011 BritMumInNZ 6 Comments Special Days

A well overdue BBQ dazzled in a blaze of light here on Saturday night. It was the first non-children’s Birthday party we’ve had since Alice was born (she’s coming up two in February). With summer officially a month away, and our spring being a seasonally typical windy and wet one, we sent out the invitations […]

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Energy – Inspiration Weekly

October 30, 2011October 30, 2011 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments Inspiration Weekly, Sarah

___________________________________________ Join in and link up here today, or any time this week, with this week’s ‘Inspiration Weekly‘. The theme is ENERGY. A picture, a poem, a story, a photograph or even music. How does ‘Energy’ inspire you?

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22 things I have done since becoming a parent…

October 27, 2011 BritMumInNZ 6 Comments Sarah, Writing

Sung’ Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ more times than I’d like to think about. Not had a lie-in past 9am for over 8 years, but had plenty of mid-day naps. Scrubbed Weet-Bix off the kitchen floor till my hands nearly bled (that stuff is like cement to shift when it has set!). Got up in the […]

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Tension & Elation

October 27, 2011October 27, 2011 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Life in action - Videos, Special Days

Charlotte, Sophie and Alice weren’t awake to watch the RWC 2011 Final, between the All Blacks and France, on Sunday. They watched the replay the next day – without the tension! We celebrated with a large pavlova, fresh cream, strawberries and kiwi fruit for morning tea. Dan watched the live game on TV with a […]

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‘Energy’ for Week 32 of Inspiration Weekly (formerly Lyrical Sunday)

October 25, 2011 BritMumInNZ 1 Comment Inspiration Weekly, Lyrical Sunday

At the beginning of 2011 Charlotte came up with the idea of setting a theme once a week and writing a poem on it. It’s amazing to look back on all the poetry and inspiration that’s been produced in the past weeks (particular thanks to Cyndi, from Latte Junkie, for her amazing contributions, to Jen […]

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The fairies have been busy!

October 25, 2011October 25, 2011 BritMumInNZ 5 Comments Sophie

As Sophie writes in her recent blog post the fairies have been really busy at our house recently, one fairy in particular (though we think she had a little help from someone). Sophie had been waiting a long time for one of her top middle teeth to fall out. It had been hanging on a […]

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Counting down to the RWC 2011 Final!

October 23, 2011October 23, 2011 BritMumInNZ 8 Comments Alice, Charlotte, Dan, Sarah, Sophie, Special Days

With minutes to go till the RWC 2011 Final I’ve been reflecting on the impact of the rugby on our household. Today we wrote our support in the sand, willing the All Blacks to succeed in tonight’s final game. Tonight I sit quietly, watching. Sophie lies on a camp bed in the lounge. Alice is […]

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A new start is rarely all smooth going

October 21, 2011October 21, 2011 BritMumInNZ 1 Comment Alice, Charlotte, Dan, Sarah, Sophie

This week has been one of change and adjustment. Sophie joined Charlotte at school. I stepped up a gear with morning school preparations and post school fall out. Alice adapted to moving at her own pace with a little more ‘down time’ during the day. Charlotte enthusiastically embraced the start of term 4 whilst supporting […]

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A few things I don’t want Alice to forget

October 20, 2011 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Alice, Sophie

I always think it’s sad that our children don’t remember much of their first years of life. I like to think that all the rich and wonderful experiences we savour together help to imprint a map in the neurons to guide my children on positive paths in the future. Right now, as our daughter Sophie […]

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Sunday snippets & a bus with a big heart

October 16, 2011October 17, 2011 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Sarah, Silent Sunday

On Sunday we took a jaunt into Wellington town, where Sophie and Charlotte took their Daddy skipping along the waterfront. Alice took a nap, warm and snug in her buggy. Whilst we stopped for coffee and cake (and Sophie gleefully devoured a chocolate fish with her fluffy!). And whilst Dan took Sophie to expel some […]

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The SHAPE of Death: Lyrical Sunday

October 15, 2011 BritMumInNZ 1 Comment Charlotte, Lyrical Sunday, Writing

My daughter Charlotte challenged me to use ‘shapes’ as inspiration for Lyrical Sunday this week. I’m linking up here (where she’s written a fun Haiku). If you’d like to join in too then please do! My poem is also a Haiku and I’ve met the challenge of using ‘shapes’ to inspire me, but my poem is […]

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Things I’m Loving this second week of our school spring hols

October 14, 2011 BritMumInNZ 11 Comments Loving & Not Loving, School hols

❤ Charlotte and her friend, visiting from Australia, delighting in the mud (it’s been a very wet Spring holiday break!). ❤ Sophie fizzing with excitement at getting her school uniform. She can’t wait to start on Monday! ❤ Alice such a cutie with her kiss curls, giggles and ability to repeat any word we say. […]

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Five years from now… (Week 2 of Life Circle)

October 13, 2011October 13, 2011 BritMumInNZ 9 Comments Random Musings, Sarah

I will be happily living in Wellington, married to my husband of 17 years and friend of 24 years. Our three daughters will be aged 13, 10 and 6. My youngest daughter will have been at school for nearly 2 years (having started on her 5th Birthday). I will be working part time to help […]

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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

  • Walking the Paekākāriki Escarpment Track February 1, 2021
  • Patuna Chasm | A river walk like no other! January 24, 2021
  • 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

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