Bobby Taylor buys lottery tickets every week. Sometimes in the scratch off variety, but mostly Mega Million jackpot tickets.

Until recently, the most he’d ever won was about $25.

Then sitting in front of the television on Oct. 13, Taylor, 52, sprang from his chair when he learned he matched five of six numbers to win $250,000.

Using a combination of birthdays and Quik Pik numbers at a convenience store on Broad Street in Athens, Taylor only missed the Mega Ball.

“I kept telling him to go to sleep and that I didn’t think he won the lottery,” said his wife, Charla Taylor.

As excited as Bobby Taylor was that night, the geotechnical field engineer said the reality did not hit him until he walked off the elevator at the Georgia Lottery office to claim his prize the next day.

“I’m still in shock,” he said last Friday, hugging his daughter, Laney. “She’s going to have a great Christmas this year.

The 6-year-old doesn’t quite understand what the lottery is or what it means to her family, but she does have a Christmas list ready for Santa.

“I want an American Girl doll, a Wii and a pet shop,” the first grader said.

Her parents have also planned a tropical vacation for February and purchased a new washer and dryer with the winnings.

“I’m not spending much of it. The rest we’re going to invest,” said Bobby Taylor.

“Everyone wants to tell you what to invest in,” he said.

But the Taylors already know where they plan to put the money — in a college fund for little Laney.

“The feeling is indescribable,” Bobby Taylor said. “I can’t sit still.”