Our home is smart. At least, it’s growing smarter. Over our smart phones or using our voices, we can control the thermostats—and what music plays where—and now, the lights.

A problem arose. We installed LED spot lights in the kitchen cabinets and over the kitchen counter. They look great. However, the lights plug into a power outlet under the sink, which can be hard to reach. We contemplated installing an old-fashioned button or switch, but we never found one that we liked. Eventually, we stumbled upon the Wemo Mini Smart Plug and decided to go digital.

The Wemo Mini Smart Plug pairs with the Wemo app on our phone that allows us to control the lights from anywhere. We don’t need to be at home or connected to our Wi-Fi network. From work, the Wemo app tells us whether the lights are powered, and lets us turn them on and off.

Even better is the integration with Google Home. We can say, “Okay Google, turn on the kitchen lights”, and that happens. We bought a second Wemo Mini Smart Plug for the bar lights, which also plug in. Now, if we say “Okay Google, turn on all of the lights”, then both the kitchen lights and the bar lights fire up simultaneously.

We just discovered routines on the Google Home app. A variety of actions can be programmed to occur on a single command. For example, when we awake in the morning, we can say, “Okay Google, good morning”. The Google Home will adjust the air conditioning, give us the weather forecast, play NPR, and turn on those connected lights. Other customizable commands include bedtime, leaving home, arriving home, etc.

Yes, it’s frightening that our devices may eavesdrop on us. We should protect our privacy and proceed with great caution. But also, this smart home stuff is pretty fun.