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:

As excited as we are that Christmas Day is almost here, it's been a bittersweet holiday season for all of us. First Hurricane Sandy. Then the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. We here at Mommy Poppins have been personally touched by both tragedies. One of our NYC contributors, Alison, lost pretty much everything in her Broad Channel, Queens home due to the storm. And last Friday, one of our Connecticut bloggers, Christine, lost a close family friend in Newtown.

It's been hard to stay positive during this trying time and yet, as Christine so eloquently wrote on the CT site, that's exactly what we need to do. As she explained, "As parents our hearts may be heavy but our children are counting down the days until Christmas arrives. One of the most important things we can do right now is to be fully present with our children and maintain a sense of routine and normalcy in their lives. This week, that includes moving forward with our holiday plans, traditions and family outings."

With that in mind, in addition to sharing advice about talking to kids about Sandy Hook and ways to help the victims, all of our sites have continued to post about holiday fun in our respective communities. In NYC, we added posts about things to do on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and throughout holiday break to our Holiday Fun Guide. Connecticut rounded up festive train rides with Santa and Long Island has a slide show of spectacular holiday light displays.

You can find out about all of the best things to do over the holidays in the tri-state area in our Holiday Fun Guides for NYC, New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut. From all of the moms here at Mommy Poppins, we wish you and your family a happy and healthy holiday season.

Here's what else we covered in NYC this week:

Although we sent out our holiday deals email a few weeks back, we realize not everyone subscribes to our free newsletters (gasp!). And since these deals are so timely and great, we wanted to make sure all of our readers got a chance to check them out.

We reached out to some of our favorite organizations to secure discounts and bargains on awesome NYC experiences including the annual Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Garden, the charming new stage adaptation of The Velveteen Rabbit, private music lessons on all kinds of instruments from Hey Joe Guitar and more. So while you're running around town this season enjoying all of the holiday fun NYC has to offer, see if any of these deals can help you keep a little more money in your pocket.

Is there a clever new way for us to reiterate that the holidays are here? Nope. Assuming your to-do list is as long as ours, you don't have a minute to waste, so we're going to keep it brief this week.

In NYC, we took a photo-filled tour of the incredible Dyker Heights Christmas lights and rounded up our favorite restaurants with kids' entertainment in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Meanwhile our Travel site is profiling gorgeous beach towns like Akumal, Mexico and Islamorada, Florida in case you want to plan (or just fantasize about) your next vacation. We also have a roundup of holiday travel packages and deals and many destinations are within driving distance of NYC.

It's your very last chance to enter Mommy Poppins' Biggest Holiday Giveaway. We've got a few more prizes to win before it ends on Friday, December 14. See the complete list on our giveaway site.

As always, you can find a slew of posts about the best things to do, see, buy and experience this magical season in our Holiday Fun Guides for NYC, New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut. Here's what else we covered on the NYC this week.

If you've visited any of the Mommy Poppins sites this week, you probably already know all about our Biggest Holiday Giveaway. And if it's news to you, well, there's still time to enter. We're giving away a different prize every single day through Thursday, December 13, nice big ones like $150 gift cards to some of our favorite stores and high-end toys. See the complete list on our giveaway site.

Speaking of giving, we suspect you're doing a lot of buying these days. Our Shopping Local Holiday Gift Guide is packed with NYC spots selling unique and offbeat items, and this week we added posts about our top seasonal pop-up shops and toy stores that opened over the past year.

Holiday fun is the focus on our regional sites, too. Spectacular light displays are up all over Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut and make for great day (make that night) trips. (And if you need to stay in NYC, there's always Dyker Heights.) You can find more out-of-town seasonal fun, including cut-your-own Christmas tree farms and Santa train rides, in our New Jersey and Connecticut Holiday Guides.

Here's what else we covered on our NYC site this week:

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza or winter solstice, our sites are overflowing with seasonal fun. In NYC this week, we added posts about inexpensive holiday shows, Hanukkah happenings and department store holiday windows to our Holiday Fun Guide.

Looking to cut your own Christmas tree? We've got roundups of the best places to chop your own on Long Island, in New Jersey and Connecticut. Turn the outing into a day trip by also hitting holiday events like Christmas tree lightings on Long Island or Santa trains in New Jersey. And if you're aiming to be eco-conscious this season, our Boston site has wonderful tips about how to have a green Christmas.

Mommy Poppins is also hosting two big events this holiday season. This Sunday is our Holiday Portrait Hurricane Sandy Fundraiser, where you can enjoy fun family activities, discounted shopping and walk away with one-of-a-kind pics of your kids courtesy of Stomping Ground Photo, with all proceeds going to storm relief. And on Monday, we launch our Big Holiday Giveaway. We'll be awarding a different prize every day, really exceptional stuff like a gift package from Toys "R" Us, tickets to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and more. So be sure to visit our site every day throughout the season and subscribe to our free newsletters so you don't miss out.

Here's what else we covered this week in NYC:

We were all about Thanksgiving, Black Friday and the start of the holiday season this week. We officially launched our NYC Holiday Guide, which is chock-full of the best places to see Santa, Christmas tree and menorah lightings, various versions of The Nutcracker and more seasonal fun.

Our sister sites are also gearing up for the holidays. New Jersey and Boston have already launched their Holiday Guides, and our Travel site rounded up Black Friday and Cyber Monday travel deals.

If you haven't gotten a chance to book a session at our Hurricane Sandy Holiday Portrait Fundraiser, which takes place on Saturday, December 2 at J&R Jr, now's the time. There will be fun family activities, discounted shopping and amazing kids' portraits courtesy of Stomping Ground Photo, with all proceeds going to Hurricane Sandy relief. It's a wonderful way to give back to those in need this holiday season.

Here's what else we covered on our NYC site this week:

All of our sites are busy gearing up for the holiday season. In New York City, we've been working around the clock updating our Holiday Fun Guide with important info on big seasonal attractions like the New York Botanical Garden's Holiday Train Show, all of the different Nutcracker ballets dancing around town and next week's main event: Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Our regional sites have been very focused on Turkey Day this week, with posts about family-friendly restaurants serving Thanksgiving dinner in New Jersey and Fairfield County, Connecticut, while our Boston site has a mouth-watering list of Thanksgiving recipes from the 1600s that are so easy, kids can help make them. If you're thinking of travel, we've posted a list of Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday travel deals. 

While the holidays are a magical time when our communities come together and go all out with sparkling lights and holiday displays, this year it's a bittersweet experience since we're all still worrying about those whose lives were derailed by Hurricane Sandy. That's why we here at Mommy Poppins were inspired to organize a Holiday Portrait Fundraiser, equal parts holiday photo session and family party, with all proceeds going to Hurricane Sandy relief. Read on for details about this one-day-only event and everything else we covered on our NYC site this week.