RALIEGH, N.C., Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A single mother of four from North Carolina has come forward to claim one of the three winning tickets from the $564.1 million Powerball drawing on Feb. 11.
"I scared my kids because I was jumping up and down in the house," 26-year-old Marie Holmes of Brunswick County, N.C., told local reporters at a press conference in Raleigh.
"I'm still processing it. It's not hit me yet."
Holmes chose the lump sum payout of $127 million -- $88 million after taxes -- over the $188 million payed out in yearly increments. She says the money will go toward her children's education, Holmes' own ongoing nursing training, traveling and charitable giving.
"This is going to make a huge difference for them," Holmes said, alluding to her children.
"They're going to be able to live a comfortable life and not worry about struggling ... Anything my kids ask for I can actually get it for them and I don't have to tell them no."
Holmes made it clear her new found riches would not bring about a cavalier attitude in her approach to parenting, as she laughingly acknowledged the money does not mean her kids are now exempt from ever being told "no."
"It's not going to change the person that I am, but it is going to change our situation."
The other two winning Powerball tickets were sold in Texas and Puerto Rico.
