Catching the Magic

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

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wedding anniversary

Celebrating 16 Years of Marriage | Magic Moments

June 10, 2015June 10, 2015 BritMumInNZ 1 Comment Lifestyle, New beginnings, Poetry, Relationships, Special Days

On the 29th May this year, hubby and I celebrated 16 years of marriage, a good fourteen-plus years of which have been spent living as expats in New Zealand; on the opposite side of the world from our birth place of England and our dearly loved (missed and thought about often) families and friends. It […]

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Barbie and Ken (aka Sarah and Dan) escape for dinner on their Wedding Anniversary.

May 30, 2013 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments Dan, Sarah, Special Days

Over twenty years ago they met. The past fourteen years they have spent wed, living in New Zealand. The past ten years they have been busy – with building a couple of businesses, selling them, making three babies and embarking on the never ending road of parenting responsibilities. Time together has been hard to find, […]

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A Kiss with PURPOSE

May 28, 2012May 29, 2012 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Dan, Sarah, Special Days, Writing

I wrote this poem with a special anniversary in mind. Dan and I will have been married thirteen years on Tuesday 29 May. We’re in this for life and I shall never forget the kiss that sealed our wedding vows. A kiss of purpose. © Sarah Lee, 2012 ____________________________________________

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Happy Anniversary to a very special ‘ole couple!

August 8, 2011August 9, 2011 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Sarah, Special Days

I phoned my folks to wish them a very Happy 41st Wedding Anniversary this morning. They really are an inspiration! They gave so much to my sister and I in our ‘growing years’ and it’s delightful to see them now enjoy their ‘couple’ time once again in their ‘senior years’ (ahem, sorry folks!). I listened […]

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A celebration to share…

May 30, 2011May 30, 2011 BritMumInNZ 11 Comments Blasts from the past, Dan, Sarah, Special Days

We could have slipped away for a romantic moment, but there was no one to look after the girls and little Alice is too young for us to leave at night. We didn’t want to spend money on cards and frivolities just for the sake of it, but we did want to do something a […]

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The Gallery – My Backyard

May 25, 2011May 25, 2011 BritMumInNZ 16 Comments Dan, Garden, Sarah

It’s overgrown and wet; my backyard. I look at the grass in despair – much like I look at the smeared, dirty windows. ‘I’ll get round to it…’ I am forever saying, but there’s always something else. Dan summed up my existence perfectly, ‘It’s like you have two tornados in the house – whilst you […]

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The wedding dress…

April 29, 2011May 29, 2012 BritMumInNZ 6 Comments Dan, Sarah, Special Days

Counting down… not long now! I’m in bed watching the ‘The Royal Channel’ on YouTube. Alice is asleep next to me on the futon. Sophie is asleep in my bed next to the futon. Dan is watching the proceedings on TV3 (screening the ITV coverage – Twitter peeps report it’s a lot more ‘jolly’ than […]

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Happy Wedding Anniversary to Us!

May 29, 2008May 29, 2012 BritMumInNZ 2 Comments Blasts from the past, Dan, Sarah, Special Days

The memories of nine year’s ago are still as strong as ever. It was a magic day, greeted by sunshine. A little rainfall came just as we were about to retreat inside for dinner at the idyllic New Mill. It was one of those humid, summer days when the feeling of a storm was heavy […]

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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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Sarah Lee's books

The Toll
it was amazing
The Toll
by Neal Shusterman
Dear Evan Hansen
really liked it
Dear Evan Hansen
by Val Emmich
A Map of Days
really liked it
A Map of Days
by Ransom Riggs
The Absolute Book
it was amazing
The Absolute Book
by Elizabeth Knox
The Furthest Station
really liked it
The Furthest Station
by Ben Aaronovitch

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