This Week: New Year's Eve With NYC Kids, School Break Fun, Final Days for Holiday Attractions

It's been a very quiet week on all of the Mommy Poppins sites as we spend time with our families. That photo is from Christmas at my mother-in-law's house and please keep in mind, we also do Hanukkah in our home! But more important than the presents (which are still sitting in a big pile on my living room floor as I figure out where to put them all) were the memories we made. We had a particularly festive time this year and I hope your family's celebration was as uplifting. I think we all really needed that.

Although many of the holidays are behind us, Kwanza is in full swing, New Year's Eve is just a few days away and holiday break is only half over. So there's still plenty of time to enjoy holiday fun in NYC or you could even take a day trip to see seasonal sights in New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut. Our CT site recently posted about the incredible Christmas House in Torrington, which looks like it rivals the famous Garabedian family Christmas House here in the Bronx. And there are other awesome displays in Long Island and New Jersey that are worth traveling to if you have access to a car.

From all of the moms here at Mommy Poppins, we wish you and your family a fabulous New Year! Thank you for sharing 2012 with us. Here's what else we covered in NYC this week:

We kicked off the week with a list of family-friendly ways to ring in the New Year including daytime options for kids who can't stay up until midnight.

Looking for something to do with the kids that first day of 2013? We found plenty of enriching options so you can start the New Year on the right foot.

Our biweekly links roundup had info on a potential school bus strike, a new Times Square location for horror-themed restaurant Jekyll & Hyde and the launch of a new classic film series for families.

Best bets for the weekend include the American Museum of Natural History's annual Kwanza Celebration, the Family Festival at the Cloisters and your last chance for lots of holiday fun including the MTA's Nostalgia Trains.