Stella can't be the mother... Because Mom's name has to be "Tracey". In the Thanksgiving episode "Belly Full of Turkey", Future Ted ends the episode by telling his kids the stripper he introduces himself to at the Lusty Leopard is their mother... her name is Tracey. The kids respond as though they actually believe him.. would they have if their mother's name weren't Tracey?

What if.... Ted is telling them the story of how he met their biological mother but... it's not necessarily implicit to be his actual wife, may be he divorced her to marry Robin, or may be their mother died years ago. There is nothing that could contradict this since the kids probably knew Robin as an "aunt" before to be their step-mom, and they keep calling her "aunt Robin"

Robin didn't want to have kids, so in this case she kind of adopted 2 grown-up kids that she already knew. Besides we have invested too much time and emotions with Robin just to let her go that easy in order to meet a complete new girl.

I think he is Uncle Ted and married to Aunt Robin.

We know that by his 31st birthday he is living with Robin.

If they are his kids and the year is 2030, he had them when he was 42, even though he met the mother when he was 30?

Although, Stella did say that the last time she went out was St. Patrick's day, so it could be her umbrella. If she has them at 18 or 20, they could be lucy's children and Stella's grandchildren.

I am inclined to guess that is it just a reused prop - not a clue. For clue like the umbrella, they make sure to point it out.

BUT, I don't think Robin would move in with him if he was still dating Stella (even so, I do like Sara Chalke as an actress)

I don't think they'd give such a strong clue and we won't know the identity of the mother for a long time.

Good red herring though, and I look forward to reading what Bays and Thomas say about it.

I can only add one thing:

THIS ISN'T LOST!

This post is totally ridiculous. I mean really. Seriously. COME ON! Get a life. This show is on the brink of cancellation since it was first on the air and you think the producers/the prop department have time to take care of BS like this? I mean really. This is a sitcom, every hint will totally be in our faces. Of course if you are correct kudos to you but shouldn't we all be bothered more IF we get to see the revelation AT ALL instead of wondering whether there are little hints in the show to suggest who's the mother in the end?

And, to be honest, I don't really care about it either. I think the mother should be revealed in the LAST show. So again - let's cross our fingers they'll get another 4 seasons and have a definitive ending already in place.

Just a small hint at how money is saved on sitcoms (and how much that is necessary): On "The Game" they use the same set for the Pitts/Macks homes (!) and shoot from different angles. It's really ridiculous to watch and barely acceptable once you find this out (they lay out carpets and hang different frames but the room layout is the absolute same).

I've taken a closer look at the two scenes and I think it's safe to say the actual handwritten note may be the same, but the frame it's held in definitely isn't. In 2030, the handwritten note is framed with a picture. In 2008, it's in a single frame.

Based on that information, I'm inclined to believe that it was a prop decision rather than a clue.

Take a look at the screenshots I took:

CLOSE UP OF BOTH HANDWRITTEN NOTES:
http://bayimg.com/LajiCAABj

THE LARGE SIDE-BY-SIDE COMPARISON:
http://bayimg.com/LaJIEAABJ

You're right. That is useless trivia.

Third possibility that no one has mentioned -- are the kids even being told the story in Ted's house?

I don't think he's telling them the story with the actual names of all the people, if that were true they would know there mother's name. Having said that, both the kids would know that this particular person has a kid and then they would be able to do the math and figure out that the person Ted is talking about is their mother. Unless Ted makes a habit of dating woman with children.

I suspect it is just a matter of using the same set props for multiple uses.

I don't think Stella is the mom.

Here is how I want it to go. On the last 5 minutes of the last episode Ted is broken and despondent. Robin is going overseas, Marshall/Lilly moving out and past him...Barney...well he gets a new wing man) and Ted breaks up with the girl of the season who we all thought was the one. Then going into something (the bar, whatever) he bumps into the girl (hey that's my umbrellas) or something like that. Show them talking and smiling...and voice over of Bob Saget saying that's how I met you mom. Then a photo scrapbook montage over the closing credits.