For loop in Sprite Kit seems to be emptying an array? - objective-c

Question

I'm just starting to wrap my brain around Sprite Kit and I am encountering a very strange error when attempting to change the property of a node in a for loop im using.
I have two SKSpriteNode objects, one is the child of a SKScene (BLATheBugs) and the other is a child of the first (BLAEmptySpaces). I have a grid laid out with BLAEmptySpaces, and BLATheBugs on top of those empty spaces which are supposed to take UITouch, and move to an empty space if its bool isOccpupied property == False. When the scene is set up, the SKScene triggers a method in TheBugs:
-(void) spawnEmptySpacesInitialize
{
[self addChild:[self spawnEmptySpaces]];
}
which in turn triggers:
-(BLAEmptySpaces *) spawnEmptySpaces
{
emptySpace = [[BLAEmptySpaces alloc] init];
emptySpace.numberOfEmptySpacesNeeded = 12;
[emptySpace spawnEmptySpaces];
[emptySpace positionTheEmptySpaces];
return emptySpace;
}
which finally triggers a method in the EmptySpaces object:
-(BLAEmptySpaces *) spawnEmptySpaces
{
_emptySpacesArray = [NSMutableArray new];
for (int x = 0; x < _numberOfEmptySpacesNeeded; x++)
{
_anEmptySpace = [[BLAEmptySpaces alloc] initWithImageNamed:#"BlueLight.png"];
_anEmptySpace.zPosition = 50;
[_emptySpacesArray addObject:_anEmptySpace];
[self addChild: _anEmptySpace];
}
return self;
}
everything seems fine, (except for needing the additional "addChild" in the EmptySpaces object to get them to be drawn on the screen which i have also been trying to fix) but when i call the method to move TheBugs:
-(void) moveLeftOneSpace
{
NSLog(#"%d", emptySpace.emptySpacesArray.count);
for (emptySpace in emptySpace.emptySpacesArray)
{
NSLog(#"cycle");
if (emptySpace.isOccupied == NO)
{
for (_yellowBug in yellowBugArray)
{
if (_positionOfFingerTouchX > _yellowBug.position.x - variableOne && _positionOfFingerTouchX < _yellowBug.position.x + variableTwo && _positionOfFingerTouchY > _yellowBug.position.y - variableOne && _positionOfFingerTouchY < _yellowBug.position.y + variableTwo && emptySpace.position.x == _yellowBug.position.x - 80 && emptySpace.position.y == _yellowBug.position.y)
{
_yellowBug.position = CGPointMake(_yellowBug.position.x - spaceBetweenBugs, _yellowBug.position.y);
emptySpace.isOccupied = YES;
NSLog(#"execute");
}
}
}
}
}
It at first tells me there are 12 objects in the array and runs the operation. if I try to move any piece again, it tells me there are now NO objects in the array (yellowBugArray). It is also probably worth noting that it will not let me access emptySpace.anEmptySpace. Throws me an error.
Sorry for the long post, but hopefully somewhere in here is the cause of my problem.
Thank you very much guys!