Friday Night Meatballs

We did it!  We actually hosted a "Friday Night Meatballs".  I'm a little late to post about it, but as is life! 

Brooke Lynn
Brooke and Joe did some clean up outside on the back deck, as the furniture was still outside.  Really, they just wanted an excuse to play in the leaves! Love this girl.

It was a lot of fun and definitely something we would love to do again, I just don't think I could do it every week.  Maybe it'd be less of an ordeal, but you could tell for everyone, coming over "for dinner" was a big deal.  I may have invited a lot of people, but I didn't really know what to expect.  We had a lot of "no response" which is always annoying, and we had some people who couldn't make it last minute, understandable.



My niece was getting super hungry and couldn't wait to eat!

Father & Son

 Either way, the house was full of food, laughter, and lots of people!

My love!

My dad & step mom!

Chatting with friends!

I would recommend gathering everyone into the dining room.

We had plenty of room, but I was putting the baby to bed and people were already sitting at the kitchen table eating. I didn't want to make them move.

Next time I would not put out this many chairs.  I reeeeeeeally wanted everyone in one room! Being me, I was kind of upset for a bit about that, but what can I do. I learned for next time!

Most of the food was eaten by the time I remembered to snap a pic.

So, while we didn't get the effect of the table being completely filled up, we still had a wonderful time!

Brookie loved running around with the other kids and goofing around with Daddy.

That was my goal. 1) Have a table full of friends/family 2.) Let the kids play.

It gave us an excuse to light these candles that have been up here forever…

Our sauce with meatballs…smelled so good!

I decided to make some chicken cutlets too, just to make sure we had enough to eat.

The biggest hit?  Homemade bread.  The first batch I tried to make didn't work out and I got pretty upset, but Joe insisted I try again, instead of just buying some at the store.  I was so glad that I did! There was NONE left.  {Recipe}

My favorite part?  He was excited to make meatballs and help tidy the house for our friends to come over.  He'd kill me if he knew I posted this, but how can I not?! Seriously it melts my heart when he is in the kitchen. {real life kitchen = mess}

Have you hosted a dinner party? I will definitely do it again, I'm thinking February when holidays and birthdays are out of the way.