I also made a really sweet frog! Kinda.

Chewing it over.

Today's blog posting is about a toy.

A really rad toy.

One that you could win. (Curiosity piqued? I know.)

Thanks to our pals at thenewtoy.com- a nifty online site that only features nine handpicked toys at a time- Nora and I received a fuzzy set of awesomeness known as Brain Noodles. They're humongo pipe cleaners with a twist (and that you can twist)- they're silky, non toxic and sans any sharp edges. (This is crucial in our household. For me, mainly.)

The Noodles come in a big ol' bunch and are brightly colored. My favorite is the zebra striped set. (Try finding that on a pipe cleaner. That's right, it doesn't exist. Unless you have a very fancy pipe with specific cleaning needs.)

Here is why this product is brilliant: it's an extremely simple toy. Its predecessor was a basic staple of craft projects in my childhood. You could glue them, twist them, decorate edges, poke your sister in the nostril, sky's the limit.

Opening this toy produced an 'aha' moment for me, like when I realized that no matter how awesome the birthday present, Nora was always gonna want to play in the recycling pile afterwards. Having Brain Noodles around equates having that fabulous refrigerator box in the kitchen- minus holes in the side, packing tape stuck to your hair, and metal staples gouging your forehead. That's right, buying this toy is like buying your favorite childhood activities...but bigger, cooler, and with less forehead-gouging.

And it comes with an instruction booklet! I've never been much for those, but having grown up with a sister who very much was- she could actually make the Lego car- and having married a guy who thinks methodical directions= a pitch perfect sonata, I decided to give it a go.

First off, I had to convince Nora that it was totally cool to touch the Brain Noodles. (Sure, she'll kiss her reflection in the oven window, but grab a soft toy? Mother May I?) After we did a series of patpatpat and kisses, it was on.

We started by forming a puppy. Kinda. Granted, written directions make my head a little wonky, but it didn't really look like a dog so much as an anemic wombat. Plus, Nora was "helping" me make the woofie. The tail may be a little over-bent. With love. I accept full responsibility for the wombat.

Then we went all freestyle and made a crown with antennae. We both wore it. And one of us may have chewed on it. (Note- Nora may be a little too young for unsupervised play with this toy, non toxic though it may be. However! She definitely got a mouthful of orange Noodle with ZERO side effects. Score!) I was also hit by one of these and am pleased to report that the claim of no sharp edges is correct. I've definitely been thwacked by worse things (a wet noodle, for example.)

Later, we straightened the Brain Noodles back out and laid them in her toy box (patpatpat) for later use.

So, by the numbers:
26 Brain Noodles
For ages 5 and up (or a really awesome almost 1-year old)
7 idea booklet instructions (with snippets of trivia!)
3 trillion creative options
1 really great toy store (they have hilarious product videos AND, with packaging, send stickers and notes about recycling. Awesomesauce.)

0 reasons why you shouldn't try to win this set

And now, How You Can Win This Set!

In honor of the Nora Jane First Birthday Extravaganza, The New Toy will generously donate a brand new set of Brain Noodles to one of my readers. Here's how to score it:

1) Vote every day at Top Mommy Blogs. (One click to the page, one to vote.)
2) Tweet about this blog, the giveaway, whatever you like. But it has to be nice. I can give you tons of ideas. For example- Isn't Keely looking trim today?
3) Facebook about the blog, the giveaway, whathaveyou. (And no, 'whathaveyou' is not a legit thing to post.)

Once you do all that, comment below and lemme know how many chances to give you on randomizer.org. (It's on the honor system- after all, did you know that 'Nora' is derived from the word for 'Honor?') The contest is open from now until her actual birthday on Friday, October 29th (and the winner will be selected on Saturday the 30th.) You could potentially score three votes a day until then.

And then we could all have a playdate. And thwack each other with Noodles. Just like in the old days.

BYORefrigerator Box.