Catching the Magic

Travels in New Zealand and beyond, going back to 2003!

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Sophie

Advent castle calendars

December 5, 2009May 27, 2010 BritMumInNZ 2 Comments Art, Charlotte, Sophie

The girls spent yesterday afternoon and this morning making advent castle calendars. Daddy-O got in on the act this morning and helped Charli out with her ‘haunted’ castle – eek! Sophie has rainbow stickers hidden under the doors and windows of her castle, which I enjoyed helping her with. We’re really getting in the spirit […]

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Cards for their teachers

December 4, 2009December 5, 2009 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Charlotte, Sophie

The girls transformed the dinning table into their craft base last night. Glitter and sparkles still remain, as though we’ve had a visitation from the fairies. The reason? Christmas cards for their teachers. Charli has done cards for the teacher aides, the headmaster and the school secretary. She’s really hoping to get through Wednesday’s audition […]

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Meeting Father Christmas

December 3, 2009December 3, 2009 BritMumInNZ 6 Comments Charlotte, Sophie

‘Ho, ho, ho!’ The girls were thrilled to meet Father Christmas at Kirkcaldie and Stains recently. He was really authentic. Charli had a massive beam on her face for ages afterwards. She was really overwhelmed and her big eyes were glazed over with wonder. Sophie was also in total awe. Sooooo cute! And what did […]

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Daddy and Daughter face-painting moment

December 2, 2009December 2, 2009 BritMumInNZ 2 Comments Charlotte, Sophie

Sophie is at her quietest and calmest when she’s having her face painted. It’s quite rare for our little chatter box to stop still for a moment and, in the past, face painting has come in handy when we’ve had to wait a while for something like the car to finish having it’s W.O.F. She […]

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Let the countdown begin!

December 1, 2009November 30, 2009 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Charlotte, Sophie

After a blast of summery sunshine on Sunday the clouds have rolled in with perfect timing for the Christmas countdown to commence. The heavy rain clouds filling the sky make a befitting backdrop for twinkling lights. It’s normally rare to see their sparkle much before 9pm at this time of year; but the downpour has […]

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Shades of Summer

November 11, 2009November 12, 2009 BritMumInNZ 1 Comment Charlotte, Dan, Sarah, Sophie

Summer is really forging its way through in short, sharp bursts. This past week we’ve snapped every sun-filled opportunity to delight in our favourite pastimes that good weather allows for. After school last Monday I took the girls down the waterfront for a big ride on their bicycles and some time to view the world […]

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Smashing fun at Charli’s school fair

November 1, 2009November 27, 2009 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments Charlotte, Dan, Sarah, Sophie

Two week’s ago we were preparing for Sophie’s kindi fair, this week we’ve been closely watching the weather forecast in preparation for Charli’s school fair. Well, we had no need to worry as the weather God’s were on our side this weekend. Dan volunteered to do the plate smashing, along with another Dad, and they […]

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Tiny fairy cakes & a Labour weekend BBQ with friends

October 28, 2009May 27, 2010 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments Baking, Charlotte, Sophie

This Labour weekend we enjoyed the wonderful company of Steph and Francis (multi-talented nannies, early child-hood educators, superb baby-sitters and house-sitters). They stopped by for a BBQ on Sunday ‘avo along with an old friend of ours, John, who has recently returned to Welly for a while. John brought his son, Billy, with him. Billy […]

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Playdough step-by-step with Sophie

October 28, 2009November 27, 2009 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments Sophie

Sophie loves making playdough. Here’s her recipe, with step-by-step instructions. 2 cups flour 1 cup salt 2 tsp cream of tartar 2 cups water 4 tbsp vegetable oil Vanilla essence (smells lovely) Food colouring

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Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho…

October 22, 2009November 27, 2009 BritMumInNZ 8 Comments Charlotte, Sarah, Sophie

It’s home from work we go… We dig, dig, dig… This was after school on Wednesday. I picked up three sacks of sand and then got the girls to help unload them into an old paddling pool (we have an identical one to fit on top as a lid). Anyone would think it was the […]

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Action in the playhouse

October 22, 2009 BritMumInNZ 6 Comments Charlotte, Dan, Sophie

The little playhouse in our garden has been transformed over the past weekend, with the girls helping ‘Handy Daddy’ to source wood, hammer it up, give it an undercoat and then paint it with chalk board paint. Sophie loves the work-bench at Kindi (complete with real hammers, saws and nails) and was over the moon […]

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Kindi Fair Sizzles

October 17, 2009May 27, 2010 BritMumInNZ 7 Comments Baking, Charlotte, Dan, Sarah, Sophie

The sausages were sizzling at Sophie’s Kindi Fair this morning. Dan and another Dad did a fabulous job of stoking the BBQ and selling around 300 bangers in the course of the morning. Thankfully the rain held off, with only a few drizzles, and no gale force winds to contend with. They could really have […]

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Mind, body, soul

September 21, 2009September 2, 2010 BritMumInNZ 5 Comments Charlotte, Dan, Sarah, Sophie

In the garden… Busy bees (aka Charli & Sophie) have been exercising their green fingers in the garden. They’ve planted a wonderful assortment of sunflower seeds in every conceivable corner of the garden, from giants and teddy bears to dwarfs and a red petaled variety. At the end of the driveway, where our letterbox stands, […]

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Happy Baking Monday

September 21, 2009May 27, 2010 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Baking, Sophie

Sophie and I started the week by baking a simple fruit cake from our trusty Be-Ro recipe book. I love the smell of baking and the house is now filled with the most wonderful, wholesome aroma. We gave this cake a big thumbs up for simplicity to make, little mess to clean up afterwards and, […]

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