children's property

Last week my then husband took the children with him when he left to go live at his parents in an attempt to try to get the house away from me. Since he left with them he has been coming back to the house and taking their things little by little while i was at work accumulating their belongings from my house to his parents. Yesterday, my divorce was just granted and where the kids are concerned the court ordered that he send the kids back home, grant me the use of the marital residence and order that we have a parallel parenting arrangement. He got away with paying me no support and not being responsible for any of the marital debt as the deal of giving me the house. My question is, how can i get all the stuff that he took back? I bought all that stuff for them weeks before he decided to take off with them and he never really took them shopping for things when they needed it all through the marriage. I have been the sole support of the kids all along. When he sent them back here he left all their things with his parents and wont give them back. I thought that the proper thing to do would have been to send all their stuff back with them and he would have to buy things for them for when they are staying there. Its not right that hes living at his moms with no bills and i have all the bills and the mortgage and now have to go shopping for the kids clothes all over again when i just bought them all these things a few weeks ago. I feel he is just mooching off me because after he left he would come back to house while i was working and take food from the fridge, lay on the couch watching tv using up the electric and take showers before i got home. I would think that this would be the time he would have to learn how to start providing for the kids while he has them and not take the things i bought them so he could get out of spending any money on them . What is the rule of this? I left a message for my attorney but he hasnt called me back about it. Im so frustrated!

[tbyte]

Anything you bought for them prior to the divorce was shared property, unless its ownership was specified in the divorce.
You have all the bills and the mortgage because you got the house.
Your divorce is over. Your custody and support arrangements were made and agreed upon. I am sure he is unhappy with the final result as well, but your efforts are better spent on the things you can control. The piddling cost of the children's items he has at his residence are a minuscule portion of the total cost of raising the children.
Focus on the future.
Did you end up with custody, or a shared parenting arrangement? What was the time split regarding the children?

we did get shared custody and he sees them 3 days per week and every other weekend. dont forget he makes about 15k more than i do and went to live back home with his parents, so he has no bills and while he is living there he has my kids sleeping on the couch and floor when they are with him when they have a home here with me with their own beds! thats whats pissing me off right now.

[tbyte]

I understand that you are pissed off. I am not commenting either way on whether your final agreement was fair or not. I am simply making a few points:
1) Rarely does either party think they got a good deal out of a divorce/custody agreement.
2) It is done. You cannot change it right now, at least immediately. Put it behind you for the moment and focus on adjusting to the new life in front of you, and caring for your children.
At some point in the future if there is a significant change in the circumstances of the children you can petition the court for a new custody arrangement.