Light Keeper Pro

I have to tell you about the best Christmas light saver gadget tool thingy (that's my technical name for it) that I've found.

Last year, the day before Christmas, part of our pre-lit tree lights went out. Of course, there were no replacement lights to be found at that point in any stores. I used the replacement lights that came with the tree but still no luck. So I decided I would just worry about it this year when we put the tree up again.

Between last year and this year we replaced at least 400-500 of the 900 lights on the tree. Stupid I know but I just think it would look ghetto putting a strand of lights on the tree and having some working and the others not.

We got everything working except this one small section and we couldn't figure out why it wasn't working. So Matt went to the store and bought this Light Keeper Pro tool. OMG!! It saved my life and if only we would have bought this last year.

All you do is take out any light on the strand that isn't working and plug in the tool to that light socket. Pull the trigger once or twice and the strand will light up all the WORKING lights. All the burned out lights will stay dark and you know exactly which ones to replace. Our problem was we had about 5 lights we thought were working because they didn't look burned out but really they were. So once we replaced those 5 lights our whole tree was finally lit.

AMAZING!!

This tool does cost $20 but most likely you can find it on an after Christmas clearance. It will save you headaches and strokes, I promise!! You can find out more information and where to buy this miracle tool here.

I am not affiliated with this company and I did not receive any compensation for my opinion. I just wanted to share my thoughts on a great tool!

Easy pumpkin plate

I know many of you are getting ready to put up your Christmas decorations or maybe some of you already have. I've been meaning to post this idea for a while but it's better late then never, right?

This is super easy and cheap to make. I think it's cute and it took me all of about 15 minutes to make. I don't remember where I originally saw this idea so I can't take credit for this.

I found a plate at Goodwill for $1. Then I purchased the pumpkin from the Dollar Tree for $1 and the ribbon is from Walmart.

All you do is cut off the back of the pumpkin so it will be flat against the plate. Measure how much ribbon you will need to tie the bow. Tie the bow around the pumpkin. I actually used double sided tape on the back of the pumpkin to hold the ribbon in place while I tied it. Once the bow is tied just glue the pumpkin in the center of the plate.

Voila! Done! That was easy!

Little red rocking chair

Way back in the spring I was able to score a rocking chair for free. Our playgroup has a "free for all" 2 times a year. You bring all the stuff you want to get rid of and take what you want. All the left-overs get donated to Goodwill.

As soon as this chair was brought in I raced to it and it was mine.


It only took me 6 months to get around to fixing it up. The chair was missing a dowel rod but that's nothing a quick trip to Lowes can't fix. You can see the missing dowel right in the middle of the chair.

So 1 1/2 cans of red spray paint later this is what the chair looks like now.


And of course a red chair would not be complete without a cute little boy in it reading his books.


I love that the red stands out against the blue walls in Levi's room. Soon enough Levi and Jax will be sharing this room.

Oh the power of a little spray paint!

16 weeks: Avocado

This week I will be 16 weeks along in the pregnancy! It really has gone by so fast. I'm almost at the half-way point. I like it when the time left is less than how far along I am. I will be so excited to say that I'm at 25 weeks and I only have 15 weeks left!

It seems as though instead of having the ickyness in the first trimester I am having it in the second. I get so many headaches right now. I called my dr and she said I could take Excedrin migraine. Usually I try to power through the headache before I pop some pills. I just hate taking medicine every day or every other day because I worry about what it will do to the baby. Hopefully these headaches will go away soon. They are really making me feel useless and I don't get to play as much with the boys.

I will have another ultrasound next month and we will find out for sure if the baby is a girl. We are pretty positive the baby is a girl but there is always that chance maybe something changed. I still haven't felt the baby move yet but that's ok. I know soon enough I will feel feet in my ribs and all the other uncomfortable things that baby will do.

As I get bigger and bigger this really is getting more and more real. It's easy to forget that you are pregnant when you aren't showing. I'm losing sight of my feet every single day and I can't hide that I'm pregnant anymore.

I love this baby already so much and I can't wait to finally have her here with me.

Labor Day zoo trip

Over the Labor Day weekend in September we took the boys to the Dallas Zoo. It was the perfect day to go since the weather was finally cool. We had fun seeing all the animals and just spending time together as a family.

I'm not sure which part was Levi's favorite. He was so excited to see every animal! I think we will have to become members of the zoo so we can go back more frequently.

By the time we left the zoo the boys were just so tired. We all came home and crashed! I love fun family days like that!


Levi was so curious about the penguins.


There's a gorilla down there napping.



Jax loved the elephants. This was his view from the stroller.


Pumba!


I love this picture!


The last thing we did before we left was let the kids ride the carousel. Levi and Jax both loved it. A very nice person gave us their tickets to ride the carousel so it didn't cost us anything. Levi was not happy to get off!

Our Utah trip

Back in August we had the opportunity to go to Utah for my husband's cousin's wedding. We decided to drive all the way out there. We're crazy, I know! It really wasn't that bad it was just a lot of driving. A LOT....A LOT!!

On the way out to Utah we drove up to the panhandle of Texas, over to Albuquerque, NM, through a small corner of Colorado and up through southern Utah. On the way back we went through northern Utah, over to Wyoming, down to Colorado, over to Kansas, down to Oklahoma and back to Texas! It was over 3000 miles that we drove!

We had an amazing time and we were able to see family that we haven't seen in several years. Here's some highlights of our trip out west!

Outside the Albuquerque Temple





There were these big and beautiful rocks that were so randomly placed along the road. So cool!

When we got to southern Utah we stopped at Arches National Park. This place is so awesome. I have been there before but my husband hasn't. I haven't been there since I was a kid so I don't really remember much of it. The park was about to close so we didn't even get to scratch the surface of this park. But at least we can now say we've been there and will remember it.

Levi just wanted to throw rocks the whole time. This is the perfect place to do that!

Matt and Levi climbed up to the top of this rock. Levi was so excited to be so high!


The arches are amazing to look at.


After the wedding we ate lunch at The Pie in downtown Salt Lake. Look at that pizza! All the toppings and the dripping cheese! Oh my glory it was so good! If you are ever there you MUST go to The Pie!


In Provo we saw Mader! How awesome is this thing?!? This is a real truck that someone actually made to look like Mader. I saw this and even though it was pouring rain I had to take a picture. Levi was scared to stand next to it so the picture I have of him with Mader he is crying. Oh well...it was still fun to see.


We were also able to go jet skiing in Flaming Gorge in Wyoming with Matt's awesome brother and sister in law. There wasn't anyone out on the lake and it was so peaceful and quiet! We had the whole lake to ourselves. I think that is me with Levi on the jet ski. It was a blast and a great way to finish our trip.

We love our family and can't wait to see everyone again!

A peach: 13 weeks

It's crazy how fast the time has gone. The first trimester is just about over! I'm slowly losing sight of my toes and shaving my legs is getting more and more difficult. I still haven't felt the baby move yet. Sometimes I think I feel something but then I just figure maybe it's gas! Hehe! I've had two sonograms and everything looks perfect. The baby is measuring right where she should be.

Did I say she?? That's right! We found out yesterday that this little baby is a girl. That is an answer to so many prayers. I have wanted a girl for so long now. I needed a girl so that she could rescue me from all the boys running around. I have such dreams of playing barbies, shopping trips, manicures and pedicures together and then some day waaaayyy long in the future her wedding! So here she is!

Where the line is drawn, that part of the baby is flat or pointed down. That indicates that the baby is a girl. If that part was pointed up then it would be a boy. No shocker there! I will have another sono around 20 weeks to confirm that the baby is 100% for sure a girl. The doctor I went to has accurately predicted our boys and I was only 11 weeks for them. So I'm pretty sure this is a girl!

I'm feeling fine and still pretty tired all the time. I don't figure that will change much since I chase around Levi and Jax all day. I can't wait to meet her!