Tammy Weber of Hammond is providing her family with the kind of Christmas she's always dreamed about after claiming a $40,000 Powerball prize from the Louisiana Lottery.

 "I can hardly wait for my children to get home from school so I can tell them the great news," shared an excited Weber. 

Weber, age 35, shared that she plans to use her winnings to purchase Christmas presents for her children and share with other family members.

Weber's ticket matched four of the five white-ball numbers drawn and the red Powerball number drawn to win $10,000. Because she added the Power Play option to her ticket for an additional $1, her prize was multiplied by four when the Power Play number "4" was selected during the drawing, bringing her total winnings to $40,000.

The winning numbers for the Dec. 8 Powerball drawing were 08-11-25-41-58 and the Powerball number was 16.

Weber purchased her winning ticket from Popingo's #14 on Highway 190 East in Hammond.

Ticket purchasers must be at least 21 years of age. The Lottery encourages anyone who may have a gambling problem or friends and family of anyone with a gambling problem to call toll free 1-877-770-7867 for help. For security purposes, the Lottery strongly encourages players to sign the back of their tickets immediately after purchasing.