Disney Princess at My Party Independence Mo

This post is sponsored by Target. More Princesses, More Sparkle: Blur the lines of fantasy and reality with your favorite Disney princesses at Target.

Belle Princess Party table decorations, food, decor, and favors this year my daughter has had the pleasure of making some of the sweetest new friends. as the school year is coming to a close, i wanted to take an opportunity to have them all over for a special party and let them (and their amazing moms) know how much they have meant to us this year.

let me rewind a bit first – in california, the cut off date is changing for kindergarten. to make a long story short, aubrey's birthday is in november so she was not able to move up with the friends she had been attending preschool with. she (and i) watched as her friends moved on to a new school, new grade, and new experiences. unfortunately, this also left her in a bit of a predicament: she was too old for the preschool but too young for kindergarten. the school district provided us with a transitional program called t-k. i spent some time observing this new classroom and fell in love with the teacher and the cirriculum, but this also meant that she would be starting over at a new school on the other side of town, in an afternoon program, and we didn't know anyone who would be in her class. i will totally admit here that i wasn't just sad for her – i was sad too! drop off and pick up are sometimes the only 'adult' conversations i have all day! all of my friends would be back on the other side of town, planning play dates, chatting at pick up, and all have the same am kindergarten schedule. even if unintentional, i knew we would be out of the loop and would miss them terribly. ultimately, this program would provide her with the best schooling possible, it was free, and i was confident she would make friends quickly… so it was the clear best choice for her future.

but to be honest – i was pretty convinced i wouldn't make friends. have you ever noticed on the playground when your kids run up to other kids introduce themselves and then are best buddies minutes later? innocent, confident, and without social insecurities – making friends is a breeze for my kiddos. yeah… its not so much like that as adults. i would even consider myself outgoing and social, but it TOTALY gets harder as you get older! between graduate programs and the military i have started over my fair share of times – and each time gained new and amazing friends… but this time it was an unexpected change and i wasn't ready for it!

over the first few days of school i noticed a handful other moms who would stay and play after school and coincidentally, their daughters were also the friends that aubrey was making at school. it was a natural fit since our girls were getting along so great, and as the weeks wore on our friendship grew as well. i started to realize that we ALL were displaced at this new school in this new program and we ALL were searching for friends for our girls (and secretly for us too!). these girls have become aubrey's very dear friends. and their moms have become mine. recently, i was reflecting on how grateful i am for them. i know this is a special moment in time – and that next year they will probably be divided up into different classes (we are all going to the same school but there will be 4 kindergarten classes). it totally reminds me of that song 'make new friends but keep the old ones' – i'm sure we will make new friends, i'm sure we will see each other, and i'm sure we will still get together. but this little moment in time and our perfectly aligned schedules probably won't happen again. and that is okay – change is okay. but i wanted to do something to cement in their minds how special this is and how special they are to both aubrey and i. so what better way to celebrate sweet little girls and their amazing moms than with a princess party?!so that is just what i did. Princess Party Dress up

…and i may or may not have convinced one of the moms to dress up like Belle…

… and i may have called it 'brunch with Belle' and accidentally served mostly desserts. whoops…

… oh and i may have taken 400 pictures or so….

yep. i'm officially crazy… but at least they will remember this forever!

{note: party details are in the second post and links to find products / vendor credits are both throughout the text as well as at the end of each post for you!}

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