Britney Spears got a pretty big reward for all of the hard work she’s done straightening out her life. Last week it was reported that Britney was granted some overnight visits with her sons. This past Saturday Sean Preston and Jayden James spent the night at their mother’s home for the first time since she was hospitalized in January.

Britney Spears spent Saturday night with her boys at her Los Angeles home. It was the singer’s first overnight visit with Sean Preston, 2 1/2, and Jayden James, 1 1/2, since she was hospitalized at L.A.’s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in January. The boys were dropped off Saturday and picked up around 10 a.m. Sunday, according to a source.

“Britney was very upset after the kids left,” the source tells Usmagazine.com. “She now does not know when she will get them next for an overnight. She complains it could be next week, or it could be three months.”

Meanwhile, Spears and ex Kevin Federline — who was spotted partying in Miami over the weekend — are gearing up for a custody trial, set to begin August 25. Federline’s attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan told E! that a mediation session last Thursday didn’t result in a custody agreement. Federline is seeking sole physical and legal custody of sons Preston, 2 1/2, and Jayden, 1 1/2 and wants Spears to continue her current visitation terms. Said Kaplan, “If the existing arrangement was acceptable to both parties … we wouldn’t have to go to trial. But that didn’t happen.”

[From Us Weekly]

I can understand how her boys leaving could be very hard for Britney. I’m sure it would rip out any parent’s heart, but the fact that the overnight visitation is so up in the air must have made the whole experience very bittersweet. If she knew if/when she could count on having her sons again, it probably would have made it much easier.

It’s too bad Britney and K-Fed haven’t been able to come to an agreement in terms of custody yet. Though from my understanding, that’s something that is almost always in a state of flux, at least to some extent. As the boys grow and change their needs will as well. And hopefully over time Britney will grow more and more stable and be able to take a more active role in her son’s lives. It sounds like she made it through a tough experience, and hopefully will get to see a lot more of her boys soon.

Here’s Britney leaving SUR restaurant in L.A. on Friday night. Images thanks to WENN.

Britney Spears was in court today – but this time she wasn’t in any sort of trouble. In fact the hearing was the result of all the positive progress Britney has made in the last few months. She was requesting extended visitation with her sons Sean Preston and Jayden James, who will be 3 and 2 years old in September. Britney was awarded overnight visitation, and it seems that all parties were happy with the decision.

Britney Spears has made a subtle change for the better—and, it follows, so too have her custody rights. This morning’s court session, attended by both Spears and Kevin Federline, resulted in “a change of visitation status” for the new aunt, Los Angeles Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini told reporters at a brief posthearing press conference. “Both sides have been very cooperative the past couple of weeks.”

While Parachini wasn’t spilling the beans, sources tell E! News that Court Commissioner Scott Gordon granted Spears overnight visits rights with sons Sean Preston and Jayden James. Federline still has primary physical custody of the boys.

The outcome seemed to sit well with both parties. When leaving the courtroom, Spears, 26, told reporters she was happy with today’s decision, and Federline, 30, made his way through the media scrum with a smile on his face.

[From E! News]

Britney even showed up on time to the 8:30 a.m. hearing – though just by a few minutes. Still, it was all good progress. Britney is now being represented by her old lawyer Laura Wasser, having fired Stacey Phillips. Wasser wasn’t able to deal with Brit’s craziness several months back, so it’s another sign of progress that she was willing to take Britney as a client again.

According to E! News, Brit is hoping to eventually be granted permission to take the boys to Louisiana to meet their new cousin Maddie soon. It looks like Britney has made a lot of progress, and it’s great that’s being recognized.

Header of Britney arriving at LAX from Louisiana after the birth of Jamie Lynn’s daughter on June 20th. Images thanks to WENN.

50 Cent (or Fiddy, as I’ve been instructed to call him) is having some major legal problems lately. He’d been battling his ex-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins, the mother of his son Marquise, 11, over a $2.4 million Long Island home for the better part of a year. Then the home suspiciously burned to the ground on May 30th – with both Marquise and Shaniqua asleep inside. Shaniqua immediately started publicly blaming Fiddy for the fire – and now she won’t let the rapper visit his child, talk to him, or even know where Marquise is living.

“He tried to kill me and his own child,” Tompkins has declared. “I know this came from 50 Cent.” While arson investigators probe the Dix Hills fire, Fitty’s legal team is drafting a defamation complaint against Tompkins.

“There comes a point where you can no longer sit on your hands and listen to her spread these falsehoods,” 50’s lawyer, Brett Kimmel, tells us. “Besides hurting his reputation, they have a damaging impact on their son.” The hip-hop king (real name, Curtis Jackson) charges that since the fire, Tompkins has refused to let him see Marquise or tell him where he’s living. Tompkins has “made it practically impossible” for 50 to speak to or see his son, according to a petition filed this week in Suffolk County Family Court.

50 says that when he learned Marquise’s cell phone was destroyed in the fire, he sent him a new one, along with a duffle bag of new clothes. Tompkins has “failed and refused to give the cell phone to Marquise,” 50 alleges. “The only way [50] can communicate with his son is to call [Tompkins’] cell phone. On June 11 … [she] did permit [50] to speak with his son. However … she was hovering over Marquise, monitoring the conversation and, after a short while, she interrupted the conversation by taking the phone from Marquise and began yelling at [50],” who eventually hung up on her.

[From the Daily News]

Fiddy says Shaniqua is breaking their custody agreement, and is asking a judge to let him see his son. So far the courts seem to be siding with 50 in nearly everything: ten days after the fire, Shaniqua was ordered to pay him $4,500 in back rent in addition to the $9,000 she had already been ordered to pay. Fiddy has been paying $6,700 a month in support - $4,500 is a housing allowance. Shaniqua had maintained that she is still owed 50 Cent’s (formerly) $2.4 million house because she needs a place to raise their son. In addition to the housing allowance.

Considering how crazy her logic has been, I’d say Shaniqua’s as legitimate a suspect as Fiddy.

Here’s 50 Cent and The Game sharing the stage during a news conference at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem on June 9th. Images thanks to WENN.

Well I think we all know whose side the Daily News is on in the Lohan family debate of which parents sucks more. Rush & Malloy calls Michael Lohan’s accusations against ex-wife Dina Lohan “heartbreaking,” and says that Michael has “reformed his life” after his stint in prison, and notes with attempted-kudos that Michael is now a counselor. All that said, it’s nearly impossible to pick who is the lesser of two evils between the nutball parents; the Daily News may have it right.

Michael is taking Dina back to court, saying she’s preventing him from seeing his two youngest kids, Ali, 14, and Cody, 11. He also alleges that Dina keeps him from his older children Lindsay and Michael Jr. – though both of them are over 18, so Dina can’t actually prevent them from seeing their dad, and the court can’t force them to. Michael says Dina’s shown up for therapy session drunk and hung-over, and has basically been a controlling bitch just for the sake of being one.

Dina Lohan had better show up in Family Court this morning in Old Westbury; she faces “immediate arrest and imprisonment” if she doesn’t.

In scathing court documents, Michael charges his ex-wife with drunkenness in the presence of the kids. He claims that Dina failed 15 of 29 times to bring the younger children to judge-ordered visits with him, supervised by a therapist. But on April 8, the father charges, Dina “arrived toward the end of the therapy session in a completely inebriated and erratic state.”

Dina had been “at the beauty parlor in anticipation of her impending trip to Las Vegas” for the show, Michael says in the heartbreaking papers, “and I attended the session with the children as scheduled. During the session, Ali requested that I watch her puppy while she was away, which I happily agreed to do. Ali called [Dina] to eagerly relay my consent. [Dina], clearly intoxicated, became irate. Without reason, she told Ali that I could not watch the puppy and that it had to stay in a kennel.”

[From the Daily News]

Michael also goes on to say that Dina sees herself as her daughters’ manager first, their friend second, and a mother last. And frankly, while I generally say Michael Lohan can blow what he has to say out his ass, he’s right in this case.

On April 15, Dina was “exhausted” as she sat in the waiting room with the children, Michael claims in the documents. “I later discovered that [her] exhaustion stemmed from the fact that she was hung over. She apparently had spent the prior evening binge-drinking at various nightclubs until the wee hours of the morning. … She was spotted completely inebriated.”

As Lindsay makes for more tabloid fodder with her relationship with Samantha Ronson, Michael accuses Dina of using the singer/actress - and now, Ali - for her own fame and fortune. “When it comes to our daughters, [Dina] has always viewed herself as a manager first, friend second, and mother third. Our younger daughter, Ali … has been cast in a movie and is recording an album. Dina, quite simply, views Ali as a bankable commodity.

[From the Daily News]

The article is obviously very biased towards Michael. It’s almost a challenge to be biased one way or the other, since both parents suck so badly. Michael is so holier-than-thou that you can’t take a thing he says seriously. And he seems to have no idea that he comes across so badly. Michael has a running blog on OK! Magazine’s website where he provides his opinion of the contents of Dina and Ali’s show Living Lohan. Speaking of holier-than-though, Michael mentions that he has doubts about the blog, but has decided to stick to his word.

I will however call it as I see it and speak from my heart, because “the truth”, (which in essence is God) is what matters and I don’t see a lot of it in this show.

[From OK! Magazine]

Michael goes on to criticize Living Lohan a bit, and then spends a good deal of the rest of his blog talking about how “by the grace of God” he saved an alcoholic and bought him new clothes and got him into a rehab facility. I’d be impressed, if Michael didn’t have to flout it. Maybe he could spend a little less time working on his superiority complex and telling everyone how to live their lives, and a little more time focusing on humility and being a real and present dad for his kids.

Here’s Dina and Michael Lohan as they reunite to make a statement outside Nassau County Family Court near New York. The pair pleaded with the press to allow them to resolve their family issues in private. Because we know how much they value their privacy. Images thanks to Splash.

Britney Spears showed up to court today, didn’t freak out, looked relatively normal and healthy, and managed to stay for all of the court proceedings. She was accompanied by her lawyer Blair Berk and both of her parents. Though the details are a little vague, it appears that Britney has won some “expanded” visitation rights with her sons. According to Us Weekly, she will have three days of supervised visitation each week. The Huffington Post picked up an article from the Associated Press that’s headlined, “Britney Spears Granted Overnight Visits With Her Kids,” – however the article itself never mentions any overnights, so we’re not sure if that’s accurate.

Britney Spears’ visitation rights to sons Sean Preston and Jayden James were expanded Tuesday following a custody hearing with ex-husband Kevin Federline. There was no change in custody, Federline’s attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan said at a press conference, but he said her time with her boys will be “more than it has been.” He would not elaborate. Spears will get three days supervised visitation a week and visitation on Mother’s Day, TMZ.com reported.

“The court made orders today, they were orders that the parties were able to mostly agree to,” Kaplan said. “It represent a cautious step moving forward.” Kaplan said the court was “pleased with the progress that seems to be occurring” with Spears daily. He called the court’s ruling “a step in the right direction. The children are doing great — that’s the key,” Kaplan said. “That’s what all of this is about.”

Court spokesman Allan Parachini also read a statement from Britney’s parents, Jamie and Lynne. “We are so pleased with Britney’s progress, and we are very appreciative of the court’s recognition of this progress,” they said in their statement.

[From Us Weekly]

All the media outlets reported that Britney, her parents, K-Fed, and all the lawyers smiled and gave positive reactions upon leaving the courthouse. Some noted that Britney seemed upset during a break in the court proceedings halfway through the day, and was seen holding her mother’s hand. Say whatever you want about her parents’ behavior raising her – they have definitely been there for her in the past few months. It’s scary to think where Britney might be right now if her father hadn’t stepped up as her conservator. It would have been nice if they’d done a better job earlier on, but at least they’re here now, and it seems like she really appreciates that.

It sounds as if everything is going well for Britney, and the court recognized all the positive changes she’s made. According to TMZ, her goal is to have a 50/50 custody split by August. If Britney keeps up the good work, that seems very attainable.

Here’s Britney arriving to court today. Images thanks to Splash.

Britney Spears got a house call from two mental health professionals on Saturday – but not for the traditional hostage-taking. According to E! and OK magazine, both the “court-appointed psychiatric evaluator” and UCLA Medical Center doctor showed up around two in the afternoon for some sort of evaluation, likely having to do with her child custody case. Though it could also be regarding her conservatorship… Brit’s got so many legal issues, it’s not always possible to determine what psych professional goes with which case. Probably sensing that they had a better chance of actually seeing Brit if they came to her instead of having her come to them, the two mental health professionals reportedly spent about two hours inside of Brit’s house before they left.

A source tells E! News that Spears’ bodyguard escorted the doctors from the Westwood-based medical center to her home in the posh, gated community of Summit Circle at approximately 2 p.m. They subsequently met with her for two hours before departing around 4 p.m.

No word on the nature of the checkup. However Mark Vincent Kaplan, the attorney for the popster’s ex-hubby Kevin Federline, told E! News last week that as part of her agreement to retain visitation rights with her kids, Spears is obligated to undergo “custody evaluation” by medical experts among other requirements.

[From E! News]

E! also notes that Britney has seen Sean Preston and Jayden James three times since she was awarded supervised visitation last week. Three times in a week has got to be some sort of record for Britney. After the court visit, Britney was off to her second home, the Millennium Dance Complex, where she taught another dance class. Brit has been really diligent with her classes, which is really impressive. There’s also no photographers there, and yet she’s keeping it up, which I think speaks pretty well of her. Robert Baker, who owns Millennium, said that the class has a different batch of kids each time, so that everyone gets a turn. Baker says Britney plays different dance games with the kids.

…”One is called Freeze,” he explains. “Everyone creates a circle and does a little dance step. Whoever gets off step has to stand in the circle. One time recently, she got off step but she didn’t want to get into the circle, saying, ‘Oh no, you guys! I’m not getting in the circle!’” But with the students shouting back, “You got off step! You have to get in!” the pop star didn’t have much of a choice. “The kids kind of revolted,” says Robert. “It was very cute. And, of course she did it, and the kids went crazy laughing.”

These lessons appear to be having a therapeutic effect on the mother of two. “Seeing her with these children, and then having these regular visits with her boys,” Robert explains. “It’s connecting the dots. I’m seeing a return to the old, loving Britney from before. She’s really improving.”

[From OK!]

That’s a cute story. Who the hell knows if it’s true or if it’s just some good press – but Britney could use some good press, so let’s go with it. Considering how much energy she’s put into acting out, whatever her motivation may be for teaching the classes, it’s a big improvement. It seems pretty clear that Britney’s father Jamie has been a good influence on her. The two have historically had a stormy relationship, but if nothing else, it seems pretty clear that he’s got Britney’s best interests at heart and is not at all self- serving. He’s been working as a chef for several years, and still holds the job. In the last month, Britney’s had a lot of ups and downs, but she’s regained limited supervised visitation with her kids, has actually shown up for appointments, and is doing something nice for others. All those changes speak well of her, and might be indications that she’s slowly getting better.

Here’s Britney on her way to Millennium Dance Studio on Friday. There’s a lot of speculation that’s she’s pregnant, and she’s certainly showing some visible tummy here. It certainly doesn’t look that bad from a slightly different angle. Let’s hope it’s just because she’s no longer using whatever substance she used to take to lose weight. Images thanks to Splash.