March Madness

It's that time of year again.....March Madness!

We love March Madness around here. I know I complain about going to so many basketball games, but I LOVE college basketball. There is something about the song "One Shining Moment" at the end of the championship game that gets me every time. I look forward to watching back through all of the "shining moments" from all of the teams. Today is a big day for the Hilltopper Nation. It is driving us crazy we can't be in Louisville, KY to watch the #1 seed UK take on the all mighty #16 seed WKU! We will be watching, pulling hard for our Hilltoppers! On Tuesday, we watched WKU beat MVSU in a nail biter. Now we are on to play an in state rival and we WANT to WIN so badly!!! WKU beat UK in 2001....we were there and in my opinion it was one of the most exciting games I've ever been too. WKU beat UK!

Walker wanted to show his spirit at school on Tuesday in preparation for the game!!

He was so excited to see Big Red on TV and we even caught a glimpse of Pops and Jules. We hit rewind and paused it for him so he could see them. He thought it was so funny.

Walker filled out his very first NCAA bracket.

I called each game out to him and he picked his teams all by himself.

At one point he said, "Mommy I've already told you"!! So funny!!

He has Loyola winning the National Championship game...Wouldn't that be funny:)

The Ransdell's have a really great and fun tradition.

Each person fills out a bracket during the NCAA college football bowl games and college basketball tournament. The winner of the bracket gets to have the trophy for a year. It gets very competitive:). Do you see which family won the football and basketball trophies....The Ransdell's in NC:):) I won the basketball trophy and Patrick won the football trophy. I'm not feeling confident this year with my picks for basketball. I may only have the trophy a few more weeks:(. It will be mailed to the lucky winner, but if I'm the lucky one it will stay here with me:)

Happy March Madness friends and family. I hope your favorite team wins!!

Go Hilltoppers!!

We LOVE our Seahawks!!

We had so much fun during basketball season. Although at times it's absolutely exhausting it sure pays off when I get to enjoy the excitement through Walker. He LOVES LOVES LOVES the Seahawks. He is ready to go when you mention the word "game":) He automatically knows we are going to watch the Seahawks. He knows a lot of the basketball players names. He yells "Defense" and "Go Seahawks". Our seats are beside some really great fans. They are all so good to Walker. He also loves the band and he knows all the cheers:)

Welcome to Walker's room!

This is his favorite player #5 Adam Smith!

Thank goodness Adam is a freshman.

Walker has three more years to watch Adam play basketball:)

We brought Mrs. Jung and her two sweet daughters Mariah and Marissa to a basketball game.

Walker was so excited for them to join us and we had so much fun!!

We met up for a quick dinner and off to the game we went.

Walker's favorite thing to do is play basketball after the game.

He adores Jimmy (front with the ball) and loves Drew (wearing jersey).

They have to wait until most of the arena is empty before playing on the court.

This is my favorite part as well, because what little energy he has left is completely gone after running around chasing the big boys:)

Ava and Walker posing after a game.

Oh and these pictures were taken during different games, but Walker insist only wearing his yellow Seahawk shirt. Ava's brother is Drew in the above picture wearing the jersey. Their dad is an assistant coach.

How cute is this sweet boy in his UNCW jersey:):)

#5 his favorite player:)

Last week Walker and I met Daddy in Richmond, VA for the CAA Conference Tournament.

We had so much fun. Walker was an angel!! He did so well in the hotel and he was so awesome during the games. He wanted to stay at the hotel and not come back to Wilmington:) We always try to get him to take a picture with the players, but he refuses. He was so funny one night as we were getting off the elevator one of the players got on. Walker whispers to me, "Mommy that was a basketball player". So cute you would think it was J Lo getting on the elevator...LOL!

Shooting basketball with Daddy in the hotel lobby before the game.

Hanging out with Ava in the hotel after the UNCW game.

It will be nice to have a little break from basketball games, but now it's on to baseball season:) We love our Seahawks and the entire Seahawk family. We are so lucky to be at UNCW!!

My Valentine!

Happy late Valentine's Day y'all!

We had a very nice low key Valentine's Day, just what we needed around here. My Valentine was my sweet sweet boy! Walker wanted to make cupcakes, so we did. He loves to help in the kitchen, some times too much:) Daddy was out of town at a basketball game, so Walker and I ordered pizza and cuddled on the couch together. He was the perfect date, but we did miss Daddy. We hope all of our family and friends also had a very special day. We LOVE each and every one of you so very much!!

Getting started on the cupcakes

Helping pour the ingredients.

He loves to use the mixer.

Daddy's job was making the icing.

We call it, "My Mommy's Icing":):)- Right Jules:)

Walker's cupcakes were so delicious!!

He did a GREAT job!!

Check out Walker's box he made to take to his classroom Valentine's Day party. Mrs. Jung asked each student to decorate a box. Walker wanted to decorate his with basketballs and with his favorite player, "Adam #5". Don't you think he did a great job!

His Valentine's box was full of such yummy goodies from his friends at school!

He was so proud to show me.

And look Walker even received goodies from his best friend Cocoa the monkey:)

Patrick and I gave our sweet Valentine a UNCW basketball:)

He can't wait to take it to our last home basketball game on Wednesday night!

A Visit From Jules!

Two weeks ago one of our favorite people came to visit.....JULES!

We had so much fun while she was here visiting. It's always have the best time when she's here. We went on a lot of bike rides, played outside, ate some really great meals and Mommy and Daddy went on a much needed date. Thank Jules for all you do for us. We can't wait until next time, so hurry back:) We love you!

On Saturday we visited the train museum downtown. It was our first time going and Walker absolutely loved it.

He is really into trains right now, so it was the perfect place to go.

They have so many really cool train displays around the museum.

Walker loved playing inside the red caboose!!

Blowing the whistle with Daddy on the red caboose!

Sitting in the conductors seat.

Checking out the steam engine with Daddy!

He found Thomas and Percy at the train museum:)

Always love getting a family shot:)

Getting a lesson on how to use the train remote.

Concentrating.......serious business!!

Walker did such a great job steering the train.

Playing soccer with Jules in the backyard.

Two peas in a pod wearing sunglasses:)

Parent's Day

Parent's Day at Walker's school.

Patrick and I were so excited to visit Walker's class and see firsthand what they do each day. They were all patiently waiting for us to enter the room. His teacher, Mrs. Jung is always so organized. Once all the parents were in the room they started singing songs and answering Mrs. Jung's flashcards....numbers, letters etc. Walker gave us a big wave when he saw us, so sweet:) Mrs. Jung works so hard and she does such a fabulous job with all of the children. It's very rewarding when Walker goes over with us each day what he learned in class. My favorite is hearing his sweet voice singing songs around the house. He learns so many things at the academy and we are so thankful to have such a wonderful, caring and patient teacher like Mrs. Jung! And by the way....I'm so excited about posting my first video....more to come now:):)

Walker and all of his classmates waiting for the parents to be seated in the classroom.

Walker sitting with his friends Luke, Peyton and Aurora.

Mrs. Jung and some of her sweet helper's.

Walker is showing me which box the letter "C" goes in.

Each morning when they come in the class they find their name/picture and drag it over to the center of the board. This particular week they were learning the letter "L" so Mrs. Jung would say, "Go feed the lion".

Mrs. Jung introducing everyone to Cocoa. Cocoa is a monkey that eats bananas. Each child has a banana with their name on it. When Cocoa eats Walker's banana this means Walker has disobeyed. If Cocoa does not eat your banana each child gets a treat each day. Let's just say Walker knows Cocoa oh so very well, especially the last two weeks. We are working very hard at good behavior these days.

This and that....

Happy Sunday to everyone! We've had a great and relaxing weekend. Just what we needed around here at the Ransdell's. I feel like we NEVER slow down, especially with UNCW basketball games in the mix. Last week we attended 3 games and believe me it was so nice this weekend for both teams to be away:) Both pulled out W's, so Go Seahawks!! My post is a little this and that, but I know you will enjoy seeing what we have been doing this busy week.

Most of you know Walker's school goes from K3-12th grade. It was homecoming this week and Walker thoroughly enjoyed Spirit Week. Tuesday was PJ day, Wednesday was birthday, Thursday was circus day and Friday was red, white and blue day. Walker enjoyed wearing his new favorite Cars pj's, but it did take some convincing for him to wear these to school. I will say he is his father's child....a creature of habit!!

On Friday his class attended the homecoming parade and pep rally.

Here are a few of Walker's classmates waiting for the parade to start.

I was so glad to be apart of the big day and help his teacher with the kiddos.

Let the parade begin....motorcycle police.

Super cool fire trucks.

Waving to the Chick-Fil-A cow!

Check out my thunder stick and spirit necklaces.

Mrs. Jung and all of Walker's sweet classmates.

We are sooooo lucky to have such a wonderful teacher like Mrs. Jung!

The kids were so great at the pep rally!

And....drum roll please......

Mrs. Jung's class won the ICE CREAM PARTY for the longest spirit chain. All week the entire school raised money to see how many links each class could get. We beat the elementary dept. Yea....K-3....Go Team!!

Elementary kids waiting for the competition to begin against the middle school.

Rolling an egg with their nose to center court. Elementary school won!!

Check out this cutie patootie in his 3D glasses:):)

We took Walker this afternoon to see Beauty and The Beast.

He loved it, but I will say he wasn't too sure about wearing the 3D glasses.

Walker's been doing a lot of this lately....climbing....ugggghhhhh!!!!

And a lot of this......He loves riding his bike in the neighborhood.

So stinkin' cute in his sunglasses.

And a lot of this ALL the time:)

Our sweet friends Grady and his dad Luck joined us for a UNCW basketball game!

I usually don't blog about us much, but we had a blast on Friday night with some sweet friends.

We went to the 2011 Azalea Fest Kickoff party at the Hilton downtown.

My sweet handsome husband!!

We hope all of our sweet family and friends have a great week. We love you all!!