I don't know what got Andrew thinking about his dad's old leather jacket- heck he's never even seen Fiel in it, but today he was on a mission to find it. As soon as we took it out of the closet he put it on and let me tell ya... He was just as swoon worthy in it as his daddy was 13 years ago.

I knew there was a good reason to hold on to that old leather jacket.

Thanks to the talents and patience of Fiel's aunt Elaine, we were able to go out in the record breaking heat last week and get fabulous photos of the kids.

I knew she was good, but I didn't know she was that good. I am so in love with the photos she took, I could just look at them all day long and feel satisfied with how I spent the day.

Needless to say I have some beautiful kids.

And best of all after years of experiencing what we lovingly refer to as crazy face Clee, we now have photo documentation of crazy face Clee.

Yeesh. I wouldn't want to meet that in a dark alley...

Today I can officially say goodbye to my 20's and welcome the 30's. I am 30, and it doesn't even sting my heart to say so. I spent my very last night as a twentysomething by watching the Real Housewives Of Orange County finale. I sure know how to end a decade right.

I finally did it. After 3 years of shying away from the idea, I finally sent all of my old HI8 tapes of the kids baby years away to be converted into DVD format. I haven't looked at those tapes since 2005.

This morning I received a web link to preview 2 tapes via email. One was of Emme and Clee's 2004 birthdays and everything in between, the other was of Emme and Clee meeting newborn Andrew for the first time through a hospital window. I was fine and in control of my emotions until I heard Emme's little voice say "look at his tiny head" referring to Andrew. You better believed I cried, all the while Fiel was rolling his eyes. He was crying on the inside. Memories of my babies are flooding my mind today. My heart swells with love for those little ones sweet faces and voices to the point it's about to burst. Why didn't I have this done years ago?

I always get excited when I see I've got a message from Clemon Sirmans in my email inbox. It can only mean he's done something super cool again. These emails are like love letters, but better. This was today's highlight in the inbox:

Clemon

Clemon

Clemon

I used Mr. Reece's picture to help remember what letters came next, but I typed my name all three times COMPLETELY INDEPENDENTLY!!! Woot for me!

Sent from my iPad

He sure knows how to woo a gal with his brilliance.

Emme's Mother's Day poem

I can run more than a mile

Just to see your Beautiful smile.

You're like a star up in the sky.

Like an angel sent from up high.

You're like a rainbow with many colors,

that makes you stand out from the others.

Sometimes you make me wonder what makes you so unique.

Is it the stars in your eyes?

Or how your hair has won a prize?

Is it your sparkling smile?

Or your sense of style?

Either way you are best you can be.

You'll always a winner to me.

Two brothers sharing a favorite pastime.

Their father is so proud.

... If I were 23 years younger, I'd have a crush on him.

Who am I kidding, I do have a crush on him.

Let's talk about the elephant in the room, shall we? Clee isn't a for good candidate for school portraits. In fact he's soooo awkward it's awesome.

We all remember last years photo:



And without further ado, here's this years:

Try to remember I'm not making fun of Clee- just pointing out he takes an amazingly awkward school portrait.

Happy Easter, folks! I can say I'm all candied out in confidence.

The kids found there baskets, wore their Easter best to church, hid then found Easter eggs at Grammy and Papa's, then had some quality time with the Lunt's.

But the fun didn't start there!

Easter weekend started hopping in Pearson for the annual family Easter egg hunt.

Emme found her Easter egg match, they both have "yay Sirmans" written all over them. Candace and Berk were unofficially deemed master egg message writers.

Clee had his very own stash of eggs prepared and hidden just for him. Come to find out, he didn't our help finding those Easter eggs after all. In fact he was a pro at it. Silly us. We really should have known better. This kids can smell candy from miles away.

Andrew hit the Easter egg hunt jackpot by finding the golden egg. He's now the owner of a crisp dollar bill. Being the humble soul that he is he made sure everyone knew he found the egg because of his ninja-like senses...

... And if finding the golden egg wasn't enough, he bagged himself the best eggtravaganza prize ever.

I can't think of a better way to end such a rad Easter egg hunt then by going for an Easter swim.

... The kids couldn't either.

When you look at Andrew's Netflix most recently viewed list, it looks something like this:

• Twilight Zone- 6 episodes

• Ghost Adventures- 2 episodes

• Blues Clues- 3 episodes

So allow me to go all Sesame Street on you by saying this:

One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn't belong.

Early this morning my grandmother, Natalie passed from her earthly body and entered into heaven with a big smile on her face. If that's not a sure sign of afterlife, then I don't know what is.

I felt it from the moment I woke this morning, and when I saw my mom's name across the phone screen this morning I knew why she was calling. She was gone. She's at peace.
She had been struggling for a few months now, and she was ready to be in peace. Though I was able to fly out to Utah for a day a few weeks ago to say goodbye, thanks to Elaine and CF's generosity, I couldn't prepare myself for how I feel right now. I'm not going to sugar coat it- I'm hurting. I can't stop crying. I'm terribly sad. Sad for Emme because she thought for sure she'd see her Great Grandma this summer. Sad for Andrew who for months now has been saying he needs to go see her. Sad for Clee because who else is he gonna get his big barrel of Red Vine Licorice from? Sad for me because I today I lost the most cutest grandma ever.

A few of her last words to me were, I love you more then you could ever know. I told her I felt the same way. I spent my last afternoon with my Grandma watching The Importance Of Being Earnest, occasionally resting my hand in hers, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Today I'll think about Ice Capades, Sequoia Redwoods, british comedy, Colin Firth (whom we shared a crush on) and Singing In The Rain, because they all remind me of her. And tonight the whole neighborhood will be in for a real treat when the kids and I sing I Love You A Bushel And A Peck as loud as we can because it's the song she sang to each of us when we were all babies.

Grandma Natalie, was an amazingly strong and wonderful person. The memories and love for the woman I will forever admire will always remain. The earth lost one of it's finest spirits today, and today heaven gained one.

We love you, Grandma. God be with you 'til we meet again.

Wondering what love for a man who buys you a chocolate cake every Friday looks like?

Here it is:

Thanks Elaine for capturing the moment.

If you ask Emme, all the good men are already taken.

And they're both Sirmans'.

If your 10 yr old says there's nothing you can do to embarrass her... play this song full blast on the car stereo when you pick her up from school. Oh and you gotta make sure she's surrounded by friends. Challenge met. You're welcome.

ps: No jokes, I really do like this song. Yes it's lame, but it's oh so catchy. I blame my past love for boy bands.

For a few months now, Clee has been training hard with Mr. Reece in prep for the Special Olympics and today their hard work paid off. It was hot and the games were off to a late start, but Clee kept his cool for a good part of the day. Clee participated in the 50 meter run and the 25 meter run. He placed 2nd both times! Not too shabby for a first timer. I love his run/ skip. It pretty much brightens my day. He was beaming ear to ear with smiles. You could just tell he was extremely proud of himself, and rightfully so.

It was a neat experience to be able to cheer Clee on while he ran. In all honesty, I fought back the tears after his second race. As shallow as it may seem, never seeing my son participate in any kind of athletic activity was one of the first things I thought when we received the autism diagnosis. And to be able to cheer for him as he crossed the finish line was a precious moment for me to be a part of.

Mr Reece, Mr Trey, Ms Perkins, and Mrs Fuller are all pretty rad, and should get constant high hives for all the hard work they do.

What a special day for our special guy.

Mr. Reece sent this last picture to me. As if I didn't need more proof that this family cannot take a non-awkward photo to save our lives. Thank heavens for photoshop.

... It's a real good picture of Elaine, though.

Long story short: I was a major NSYNC fan from 1998- 2001. JC was my favorite.

The kids school have a reward program for good behavior. They can collect "high fives" and cash them in for miscellaneous items at their school store.

Emme, being the funny and thoughtful girl that she is, saw this at the store and just knew I had to have it.

It's a 2001 JC bobblehead. Oh yeah baby. She surprised me with it last night and we got a big laugh about it. She said her classmates were confused as to a) who NSYNC even was. And b) why would she want it's bobblehead.

We're in the midst of locating the perfect place around the house for him to call home. I'm sure Fiel thinks the perfect place would be behind the toilet seat, but that's no place for a once potential grammy award winner.

The best part of this gift is that JC comes with his very own certificate of authenticity. Ooooh. I better call my insurance agent and get this baby covered.

I knew taking Emme to an NSYNC concert via womb would make her a better person.