Cannot Afford an Attorney to Fight for My Own Kids!!!!

I could go on for days about my situation but I'll will try to stick to the most important details. My ex-husband and I divorced in 2003 after 7 years and 2 children together. During our marriage and in the years since, he has had very little if anything at all to do with our sons. The only time he's been interested in exercising his visitation, is usually on holidays and birthdays when his family initiates it and he can have them on display so everyone thinks he's actually a father. This always made me sad but I knew that they received all the love and attention they needed from my side of their family and one day their dad would grow up and regret putting his social life in front of his children. O.K., fast forward 4 years...We both remarry, He now has a family of 7 children, including the 3 she had, his three (only 2 of which are mine) and they just had one together. I have a total of four (his two and two from my husband). We have all maintained a civil relationship because it was better for the children. After he remarried, I would let the boys stay more often at their dad's, especially during the summer, because I worked all day and she (his new wife) stayed home. I lost my job right before school started last fall and my husband and I were afraid we were going to have to move to a cheaper house since there would be no possible way to afford ours anymore. I did not want to move the kids right after school started so we agreed to let them start school in the city that their dad lives in since he just bought a home there, and my husband and I would look for rent homes in the same city since it would be cheaper anyway. Well a month later plans changed. I was offered a better job than the one I lost and we decided to stay at our current house since it was cheaper than moving and closer to my job. I call their dad and tell him and he informs me that they "are not coming back". After arguing and fighting with him I agree to let them stay at that school until Christmas break since it was my choice to make them start there in the first place. I honestly thought at the time that was our only option. All the while, I have them every single day they do not have school, as often as I possibly can and it still drives me crazy to be away from the so much. Christmas comes around, the boys tell me they do not want to change schools in the middle of a year, that they like the school their in now. I feel horrible that I have done this to them because I never had to switch schools growing up, so my guilt convinces me to let them finish the year and then we will be out of our lease and reevaluate our living situation and worst case scenerio, they come back to my house for good when summer starts. Was I ever the fool...This whole time, my ex knew exactly what he was doing and calculated it to the very day. On January 16, I received a knock on my door with papers that my ex is suing me for custody with the grounds of abandonment. He claims that I gave them to him on August 15, when school started and have not wanted them back for 6 months. I feel so stupid, for actually believing that he would NEVER want to do something like that to me or his kids that he knows love me more than anything in the world. My whole world came apart that day. My main problem is money. The attorney that I had a free consultation with let me know that I have probably lost custody of them and since I can barely afford to retain him and my ex has an unlimited bankroll at his expense, he would just keep on until I run out of money or he won. That he says, is the reality of of judicial system. He wished that I had come to him before I ever approved them staying the remaining of the year after Christmas and he would have told me what the loser was up to. I can't believe I was so naive to trust him, heck, the thought actually never even crossed my mind. I am their mom, I am the one who raised them for 10 years while he did god knows what and then he wakes up one day and wants to play dad and since he a better con artist and has tons of money, I am going to lose my babies? This just doesn't seem fair. I don't know what to do about an attorney. We barely can pay our bills much less spend min. $10 K in attorney fees. and know going in that I don't even stand a fighting chance. Does anyone have any advice at all, or know someone that something similar has happened to that could lead me on the right path. I have done extensive research online and it's not anything reassuring since my sons are not young anymore (they are 11 and 9) and they are already established in a school district and judges do not like to remove children from one school to another. I will take any advice you might have. Sorry this was so long, honestly I could type pages of all the details and sleezy things my ex has done, but my main goal is to keep my kids that I raised their entire life and know me as the only stable person in their life.