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: